The Fiasco
by georgiagirlagain
Summary: After Joe embarrasses her on a national television show, Stephanie eventually finds love with a Merry Man. Steph/MM pairing. Rated M for smut in future chapters. Spoilers up to 19, just in case.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Stephanie sat on the cheap fold out chair in the hallway and tried to clear her thoughts. She wasn't sure why she agreed to come on national television, but she knew she regretted her decision. Tank and Lester had tried to talk her out of it, and Mary Lou had been very suspicious of Joe's intentions. She said it was too out of character for him. Lula, on the other hand, had been very excited about Stephanie's impending appearance.

"He's gonna pop the question White Girl. He knows the only way you'll say yes is if he surprises you in front of an audience, and he knows what kind of pressure you'll be under from those nosy ass old biddies in the Burg once they see you say yes. I even heard the cops betting on your answer when I took a FTA in to the PD. The last I heard the pot was up to $500 that you would tell him where to shove his cheap ass diamond."

Lula had managed to impart all this wisdom while dropping gobs of filling from her jelly doughnut on to her neon yellow spandex tube top.

"You'll be even more famous than you are now! Instead of just making the local papers, you'll be on t.v.'s all over the country. Can I be your agent? You can't just handle all that new attention by yourself. You got to have Lula to handle all your public personality shit. I'll even give you a discount for my services."

"Miss Plum…Miss Plum! Katie is almost ready for your segment. I need you to come with me." The pushy assistant producer brought Stephanie out of her daydream by snapping her fingers in front of her face. "I'll give you a little push when she's ready for you to go out on the set. Take a deep breath. Oh, and remember not to hug her. She hates it when people do that."

Stephanie gave the assistant a small nod and tried to channel her inner Ranger. She tried to calm her thoughts and put on her blank face. Who was she kidding? Ranger wouldn't be caught dead on national television, much less with no idea why he was here.

Before she knew it, the bitchy assistant was giving her a less-than-gentle nudge towards the stage. With a smile plastered on her face, praying that she wouldn't trip in her four-inch FMP's, Stephanie stumbled forward to shake the hosts' hand.

Stephanie had to fight the urge to giggle. Katie had on so much makeup that she looked like a clown, and the suit she wore was ill-fitting to the point it looked uncomfortable to sit in. Joe was already seated on the beige couch, a look of smug satisfaction on his face.

"Welcome Miss Plum. We've already met your boyfriend, Detective Morelli. He wrote to us a couple of months ago telling us about the remarkable hardships you have overcome in your career as a bounty hunter in Trenton, New Jersey. Let's take a look…"

Steph could feel her face growing pink as the highlight reel began. It covered all her most memorable and embarrassing moments as a BEA, including the funeral home fire, her many car explosions, when she was kidnapped by the Slayers, and her personal favorite, bringing in Morelli when he was FTA as her first capture. She couldn't help the small smile that showed on her face at that last tidbit.

"You've had a remarkable career, and I'm sure if the producers of a certain bounty hunting show had known about you, Dog wouldn't have stood a chance," Katie said with a sickening sweet smile at the camera.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering why Detective Morelli wanted to bring you here. Joe?"

Joe took her hand as he gave her a simpering smile. "Cupcake, you know how much I love you. We've had our differences, but I'm sure we can work past them if you'll just learn to see how much I want to keep you safe and give you a happy home. Will you make me the happiest man in Trenton and be my wife?"

Stephanie looked down at the ring sitting in the black box on Joe's open palm. Since he wanted to make her a public spectacle, she would gladly help him along.

"Joe, I'm going to say this once, and since you decided to drag me on to national t.v. to embarrass me, you'll be able to replay it if you ever forget what I'm about to say. I said no to you two months ago, and I meant it. You're a selfish, overbearing, pig-headed, chauvinistic jackass that I wouldn't marry if you were the last man on Earth and civilization needed us to reproduce to continue the species. Don't bother contacting me again, and if you do, I'll run you over with the Buick again and break your other leg." Stephanie stood up so fast it looked like a spring had boosted her off the couch, spun on her heel, and stalked off the stage.

What a moron, she thought as she bypassed the asinine assistant and the dozen other people who tried to stop her retreat, and slammed her dressing room door shut on the camera that followed her. She quickly stripped off her microphone, changed back into the jeans and black tank top she had shown up in, grabbed her bag, and flung open the door only to run into a wall of black that was Tank.

"You look like your ready to blow this joint, Little Girl," Tank grinned down at her.

"Tank, you're a mind reader. Get me the hell out of here!"

* * *

"OMG Steph! I can't believe the nerve of that hairy-assed pig! After what he did, it would have served him right if you had ripped his head off. And I'm not talking about the one on his shoulders!" Stephanie held the phone a few inches from her ear as Mary Lou continued to rant. "_Everybody_ is talking about it. I had to take the house phone off the hook. Valerie called right before I yanked the phone cord out of the wall and said your mom is ironing the socks and tippling already, and the Burg gossip hasn't even really gotten started yet. She's going to start ironing the toilet paper soon."

Steph groaned at the thought of all the voice messages she would have on her phone, not only from her mom, but all the other gossip mongers in the Burg. An image of her answering machine in her apartment blowing up came to mind.

"Lou, I can't wait to get the hell out of here, but I may have to enter the witness protection plan to keep my mother off my case after I turned down what she thinks is my last chance at happiness…and on national TV! I'll never hear the end of this as long as I live. 'Why me? Madge Smenkoski's daughter never embarrasses her family by turning down a perfectly good marriage proposal from a wonderful man like Joseph.' If she really knew what happened two months ago I doubt she'd still think of him as the Burg's golden boy."

"I know Steph. Just keep your head up and all this will eventually blow over. I've got to go. It's almost time for the boys' parent-teacher conference. Call me when you get back."

Stephanie glanced over at Lester as she disconnected the call. The smirk on his face almost hid the concern he felt for her. She knew that she would eventually have to come out of Denial Land, but it was the only way she had of dealing with such a gigantic clusterfuck right now. She'd let the sky fall when she was home, in the relative safety of her own apartment.

"Look at the bright side, Beautiful. At least you've still got my handsome face to look at."

"I don't know if I'd consider that a bright side or not, Les. I still have to put up with the personality to go with the handsome face."

Lester put his hand over his heart. "You wound me, Steph. Many women have fallen victim to the Santos charm."

"More like they had pity on you," Tank said from the doorway as he watched Steph throw her things into her suitcase. "Our flight leaves in 2 hours. They didn't have seats in coach, so I booked us first class."

"Thanks, big guy. I'm almost done packing."

Two hours later Stephanie was sitting next to Lester, digging her fingernails into his arm as the plane took off from the runway. Even though Lester's offer to distract her while they were taking off was tempting, she felt that the champagne was a safer bet.

After she had unpacked her suitcase and said hello to Rex, Steph parked herself in front of the TV with Ghostbusters playing and a pint of Ben & Jerry's in hand. Lester had tried to stick around when he dropped her off, but she had insisted she needed time alone. Now she wondered if that was really the best idea. Before she knew it, her cell phone was in her hand and Lester was picking up.

"Miss me already, Beautiful?"

"You want to watch Ghostbusters with me?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Pino's or Chinese?"

"Pino's."


	2. Chapter 2

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 2

Stephanie woke up the next morning with a warm body pressed against her back and evidence of Lester's appreciation of their sleeping position poking her in the ass. The couch must have proven too difficult to sleep on for very long. He had been sound asleep with his feet hanging off the armrest when she'd crawled into bed around midnight last night. She could tell by the steady sound of his breathing that she was the first to wake up. Slowly easing out of bed, she made a dash for the bathroom as soon as her feet hit the floor. After she had taken care of nature's call, pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and washed her face, she quietly crept back into the bedroom and watched Lester for a minute.

The smirk that was always on his face when he was awake had been replaced by a peaceful expression, and his hair was sticking up in all directions instead of the carefully styled spikes he usually wore. Stephanie's eyes traveled further south and ran over the long eyelashes that any woman would kill for and usually had to use copious amounts of mascara to achieve. Her gaze lingered on his sensual lips, wondering what it would be like to run her tongue over them. She kept heading south, drinking in the acres of tan skin and hard muscle on display until she ran into the sheet that stubbornly clung to his hips. Steph knew that he had on boxers, but her imagination was running wild with scenarios where Lester woke her up with nothing on but a smile. _What a way to wake up_, she thought.

"I agree, Beautiful. If the expression on your face is any indication to the rest of your thoughts, I think we have similar ideas on what a good morning is," Lester said as a slow smile spread across his face.

Stephanie felt the blush creeping up her face. "I, uh, I was going to ask if you wanted some coffee."

"Sounds good. You wouldn't happen to have anything besides pop tarts for breakfast, would you?"

"If you want anything besides pop tarts or cereal you're on your own."

"Tell you what. I'll take you to breakfast since I helped eat your Ben and Jerry's last night. Give me 10 minutes to grab a shower," Lester said as he swung his feet onto the floor and stretched. Stephanie watched as the muscles flexed in his back and had to fight the urge to run her hands over them. Shaking her head to clear out the thought of raking her nails down Lester's back, she headed towards the kitchen to start the coffee.

Twenty minutes later they were on their way to the diner. It was late enough that most of the morning crowd had cleared out. As soon as they settled into their booth in the back the waitress brought over menus and filled their coffee cups.

Stephanie could feel the eyes on her as she sipped her coffee. She knew coming out of her apartment so soon after being on _Katie_ was a mistake, but she refused to hide just because Joe was an ass.

Lester could feel her unease. "Don't worry. Pretty soon you'll blow up another car, and nobody will remember you handing Morelli his ass on live TV. Things will be back to normal, or at least normal for you, in no time."

"You're a funny man, Lester Santos. Do you have to work today?"

"Nope. I'm all yours. You want to go to Point Pleasant for the day? This will probably be the last nice day of summer. I hear the beach calling your name…and if you have a bikini you could wear, it would make my day."

"Sounds like a good plan to me. I just know the second I step foot in the Burg my mother is going to start with her 'Why me?' speech, so the further away I am from that, the better."

After they finished breakfast, Lester dropped Steph back off at her apartment so she could throw on her swimsuit and pack a bag with everything she'd need for the day while he went back to Haywood to grab a picnic lunch from Ella. Thirty minutes later they were cruising toward Point Pleasant with the windows rolled down and Metallica blasting from the speakers.

A day at the beach was just what Steph needed. She really hadn't expected Ranger to call, but she was still disappointed when she hadn't heard from him last night. He wasn't exactly the type to sit in front of the TV, but she knew Tank had to have filled him in on the situation once they got home yesterday afternoon. After their talk a month ago, he had kept his distance, allowing her time to heal. But she had never needed to hear his quiet 'Proud of you, Babe' quite as bad as she needed to now. Steph let her mind wander back to the conversation they'd had a few weeks ago.

_They were camped out in front of a skip's house, in the third hour of what had to be the longest surveillance shift of her life. She had already worked her way through 3 Tastykakes, a Hershey's bar, and a bag of Cheetos._

"_That stuff will kill you, Babe."_

"_Just because you don't know what good food is doesn't give you the right to criticize my culinary choices," Steph replied while she licked off the orange cheese stuck to her fingers._

_Ranger's eyes darkened as he watched her. He'd already had to sit through the soundtrack she made while she devoured her 'stake out stash', and the effects were starting to show in the fit of his cargoes._

"_How long until Lester and Bobby show up to relieve us?"_

"_Forty five minutes. I'm surprised you haven't asked that before now."_

"_I'm full of surprises, Ranger."_

"_I have no doubt about that, Babe. I've been meaning to discuss something with you. I'm moving back down to Miami for a while. My brother Raoul is retiring from running the Rangeman office, and I've got to train his replacement. Since my absence always seems to overwhelm Tank, would you consider coming to work for me full-time to help with the paperwork? You'd still be able to get out in the field, but you'd have to start training, at least a little, and spend some time in the gun range. It would help out the core team to have your help with the business aspect of the company, and I would feel better about your safety if you weren't going after skips by yourself anymore. You can take some time to think about, if you like."_

_Stephanie knew that Ranger had kept talking, but all she heard was that he was moving. "How long will you be gone?"_

"_At least 3 months, possibly more. It all depends on how quickly I can train Raoul's replacement."_

_Stephanie would normally bottle up her emotions, but her mouth no longer seemed connected to her brain. "Are you running from me? I thought we were getting closer since….since I broke up with Joe." The memory of seeing Joe playing the grown-up version of choochoo with Terri Gilman still sent her temper rising._

"_I won't say that the thought didn't cross my mind, but Raoul's retirement is just a coincidence. I would like to take the opportunity this is giving us to put our friendship back on track. You know my life doesn't lend itself to relationships, Babe. Some time apart will help us both remember why that is."_

_Lester and Bobby chose that moment to pull up behind them. With a glance in the rearview mirror, Ranger pulled away from the curb and headed back to Stephanie's apartment. _

_When Ranger pulled up to Steph's building, she barely waited until the car was in park to jump out and run for the elevator. Of course, Ranger was waiting for her when she stepped out of the elevator. He silently took her key from her and swept her apartment for deranged dust bunnies while she waited in the entry hall. She never said a word to him the entire time, and as soon as he was gone she sank to the floor and let the tears stream down her face._

Stephanie called Ranger the next morning to accept the job. She didn't think turning down a perfectly good job was a smart idea when the BEA business had been so slow lately. Besides, working for Vinnie had lost its appeal months ago. Ranger left for Miami two days later.

Lester took her hand when he noticed the dark expression on Stephanie's face. "Come on, Beautiful. Don't ruin your day at the beach worrying about my clueless cousin. If he doesn't realize what he's missing, that's his problem. There's a line a mile long waiting for a chance to take your mind off him."

Steph shot Lester a disbelieving look. "I'm sure they're all just dying to take me out after Joe made a spectacle of me yesterday."

"I know half of Rangeman has a crush on you and is just giving you some time before they ask you out. The other half are too chicken to ever act their feelings. You don't realize the effect you have on us poor, defenseless men when you bat your blue eyes and smile at us."

Stephanie had to steer this conversation out of such embarrassing territory. "You're just trying to get on my good side so I'll share Ella's lunch with you."

"That's true, Beautiful, but I'm also trying to get you to let me see that bikini you've got on underneath those shorts," Lester said with a wink as he parked the truck.

Once they had their towels spread out on the sand and the umbrella set up, Stephanie stripped out of her shorts and tank top and stretched out on the sand. As the sun soaked into her skin, she felt her stress over yesterday's mess float away with the tide.

It didn't take very long for Stephanie to drift off to sleep. Les woke her up gently about an hour later so that they could have lunch.

"God I love Ella. Maybe I could get her to adopt me."

"She spoils you more than she does the rest of us."

"That's because I appreciate real food, instead of twigs and bark like you guys."

Once lunch settled, Lester grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Let me show you how good I am wet, Steph."

Stephanie felt her pulse pick up as her imagination ran with all the ways Lester could be good in the water. Hopefully the water would help cool down her overheated Hungarian hormones.

Hours later, Stephanie had the beginning of a sunburn, and Lester was hauling the umbrella and picnic basket back to the car as Stephanie shook out the beach blanket and repacked her beach bag.

When they got back to Steph's apartment, Les did his usual check for serial killers and stalkers. When no boogeymen jumped out of the closet, he gave her a kiss on the cheek as he made his way to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Beautiful. Don't stay up too late thinking about me in my swimsuit."

"I'll keep that in mind, Les. See you tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 3

Stephanie decided to bite the bullet the next day and stop by the bond's office during lunch. She knew Lula and Connie would be ready to explode from all the gossip they'd heard from the Burg grapevine. She wanted to get a lead on everybody's reaction anyway.

As soon as she parked her latest p.o.s. she could see Lula and Connie staring at her from the door. With a sigh, she grabbed the box of doughnuts and trudged inside.

Lula took the box from her as soon as she crossed the threshold. "Damn White Girl, you must have read my mind. This here's the perfect lunch to go with my new diet. I read in a magazine at the hair salon how animal fats make you gain weight, so I ain't eating no more animal parts. Just good healthy stuff from now on. Besides, there's fruit in jelly doughnuts, right?"

Steph rolled her eyes at Connie and picked out a Boston crème. "Any new files for Rangeman?"

"Not today. So have you heard anything else out of Morelli since you got back home?"

"No, thank God. I'm sure Terri or Joyce is keeping him company right about now. He's probably milking the sympathy card for all it's worth."

Connie was working her way through a glazed. "Oh, I know for sure Terri is giving him her brand of comfort lately. Beth Giordano overheard her telling anyone who would listen how she was spending her nights at his townhouse when she was in Pino's yesterday. Apparently Morelli only asked you to marry him out of sympathy…or at least, that's her version of events."

Stephanie shrugged. She knew Terri would be on the warpath after the _Katie_ debacle, so it wasn't very surprising that she was trying to explain away Joe's proposal on national TV.

"If she wants him back after what he did, she's got less of a backbone than I thought. I'm surprised her uncle is putting up with the way she's chasing him. It can't look too good being the head of a mob family and have your favorite niece in bed with a cop."

Lula was working on her third jelly doughnut. "Supercop must have her wrapped around his dick if she's putting up with all his crap. He may have the finest ass in Trenton, but he 's also the biggest jackass."

"No kidding! After catching Joe playing treasure hunt with her when he was supposed to be 'undercover', I definitely agree he deserves that title."

"Your mama must be ironing the walls by now, Steph. Your grandma told them old ladies down at the Clip n Curl that she had to disconnect the phone on account of your mama would tipple every time it rang. When she left for her hair appointment she was passed out in your dad's recliner."

Stephanie groaned. "I've already gotten about five hundred voice mail messages from her. She seems to think I've lost my last chance at happiness now that I've embarrassed 'poor Joseph' on national TV. I'll have to go over there on Friday for dinner, and I'm sure I'll get to listen to it all over again. She wouldn't be so enthusiastic about trying to get me to marry him if she knew what an ass he is….or maybe she would. I'm beginning to wonder if it matters to her as long as I'm settled down and not blowing up cars anymore."

After Lula and Connie had helped her clean out the rest of the doughnuts, Stephanie headed back to Rangeman. She spent the rest of the afternoon running searches for Rodriguez and completing the payroll paperwork for Tank. Before she knew it, five o'clock had rolled around. Stephanie was about to step into the elevator when she felt a pair of strong arms circle around her waist.

"Leaving so soon, Beautiful?"

"Stick a fork in me, Les. I still feel a little jet lagged from the trip. I think I'm just gonna go home and spend some quality time with Rex."

"Well, I've got a surveillance shift that starts at eight tonight, so I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Be careful, Les. Don't have too much fun."

"I wouldn't dream of having any fun that didn't have you as the starring role."

Stephanie grinned to herself as she made her way to her car. Les was such a flirt, but he always knew how to make her smile. She would still be in a funk if he hadn't been there for her when Ranger left town. She wasn't sure when it happened, but it was getting increasingly difficult to imagine a day without seeing Lester and spending some time with him. He seemed to make it a point to check on her every day, even when he had a full schedule. Sometimes all he did was stop by to bring her some Boston crèmes for breakfast first thing in the morning, or drop off little pick-me-ups like the Wonder Woman pez dispenser he found while he was tailing a skip through the mall. She was quickly becoming spoiled by him.

Mrs. Bestler was manning her post in the elevator when Steph arrived. "Second floor, dear?"

"Yes, please. How are you, Mrs. Bestler?"

"As well as expected. Second floor, power tools and electronics."

Once Stephanie had fed Rex some hamster crunchies and the crust off of her peanut butter and olive sandwich, she stretched out in front of the TV with a beer and found a Yankees game on TV. As much as she wanted to cheer her team on, Steph felt her eyes getting heavy less than thirty minutes into the game.

_Stephanie watched as Lester strutted over to her from across the crowded club. She could feel the beat from the music all through her body. Without a word, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the dance floor just as Grind on Me by Pretty Ricky began playing. His hands skimmed down her back as they followed the rhythm of the music with their bodies. She ran her fingers over the muscles in his shoulders and down his arms, then spun around and wrapped her arms around his neck as she pressed her shoulders into his chest. Les pulled her closer, holding her with his hands on her hips. She could feel her temperature skyrocket as his breath ran softly down her neck and he gently moved his fingers up and down her ribs. Their hips moved together, following the beat. Lester turned her back around to face him, pulling her body as close as possible, and Steph could feel his reaction to their closeness pressed against her abdomen. Their eyes met as the song came to an end. _

_The room seemed to shift and Stephanie found herself back at her apartment, standing at the foot of her bed. Lester leaned against the doorway, eyes hooded with desire. Her eyes ran over the white tank top and dark wash jeans before coming to rest on his lips. He pushed off of the frame and stalked towards her, his gaze so intense it made her skin tingle. Standing so close she could feel the heat coming off his body, he lowered his head and claimed her lips hungrily. Stephanie felt her arms wrap around his neck as she pressed herself closer to him when he deepened the kiss. Lester ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, seeking entrance. With a soft moan, Steph felt her bones turn to jello as Lester's tongue dueled with hers. Her hands ran down his back, reveling in the feel of the muscles under her palms. Pulling his shirt out of the waistband of his jeans, she traced the lines and ridges of his abs. He pulled the shirt over his head and tossed it in the corner, then gently pulled the elastic out of her hair, letting her wild curls fall down her shoulders. His fingers rubbed light circles on her upper arms while he kissed her eyes, cheeks, nose, and forehead, before coming back to her lips again. Lester slowly unzipped the back of her dress and watched it pool at her feet. His head dipped down again as he placed kisses on her shoulders, working his way up her neck to suck the tender skin under her ear into his mouth. Stephanie gasped as his hands cupped her breasts, running his thumb softly over her nipples through the satin of her bra. He slowly walked her backwards until the back of her knees hit the bed, then gently guided her down on to the mattress. Her breath became quicker as Lester placed open-mouthed kisses from the juncture of her shoulder and neck to the tops of her breasts. He slowly made his way further down her body, stopping when he reached the edge of her panties. Stephanie held her breath as he ran a finger under the elastic, teasing her with a slight smile on his face. The smile grew as a small sigh came from her when he skipped down to her feet and pulled off her heels, placing a kiss at each ankle as the shoes hit the floor. Lester began to work his way back up her body, nudging her legs apart._

Stephanie woke with a start. She could feel the flush on her skin from the dream as she looked around quickly, trying to see what had startled her awake. Everything seemed quiet. All she heard was Rex running on his wheel and the low sounds of the baseball game on the TV. She was about to dismiss the hinky feeling in the pit of her stomach when she heard the shuffling sound. Getting to her feet quickly, Steph crept to the front door and looked out the peep-hole. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the hallway was clear. Unlocking the dead bolt and the floor bolt, she cracked the door and bit back a scream.

Lying propped against the door was a stuffed teddy bear dressed in a policeman's uniform with a knife sticking out of the top of its head.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N : Sorry this update took so long. Finals and end of semester partying kept me busy, but on the bright side I'll have more time to update since I'm on break. Enjoy!**

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 4

Stephanie slammed the door and threw all the locks with shaking hands. She sprinted for the living room and grabbed her phone of the coffee table, hitting the speed dial for Lester. He picked up on the second ring.

"Yo."

Stephanie shakily released the breath she had held since she found the teddy bear. "Someone left a present at my door."

She could hear the sound of an engine being gunned in the background. "I'll be there in fifteen, Beautiful. Do you have your gun?"

"Um…I do now," Stephanie replied as she retrieved her .38 from the cookie jar.

"Is it loaded?"

"No."

Lester sighed and Stephanie could just imagine the pained expression on his face. "Do you have any bullets?"

"A couple."

"Go ahead and load what you've got. I'll be there in ten." Lester disconnected and Stephanie stared at the phone. She really needed to teach the Rangemen phone manners.

Nine and half minutes later Steph watched as a black SUV came to a halt in her parking lot and Lester jumped out and ran into the lobby. She opened the door just as he cleared the stairwell with his gun drawn, scanning the hallway.

Lester holstered his gun and stared at the murdered teddy bear. "You attract crazies like shit sticks to Velcro. I'll call Tank and get him to send Hal over here with his kit. If there's anything to be found on this bear, Hal will find it." He carefully stepped over the murder scene and wrapped Stephanie in his strong embrace.

"You ok?"

"It's not my fault!"

"Nobody thinks it's your fault. Besides, just imagine how dull your life would be without all this excitement."

Steph snorted. "Ha ha, Les. I knew that TV show was going to cause something like this to happen! I'll kill Morelli next time I see him."

Lester steered her towards the couch as he pulled his phone out. After a short conversation with Tank where Stephanie wasn't convinced enough had been said to explain the situation, he settled next to her on the couch and slung an arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer.

Steph buried her face in his chest and tried to breath in the calm he seemed to radiate. Before she had time to dwell on the newest batch of crazy in her life, Hal knocked on the door.

Hal had the scene processed in no time. He sent Lester a meaningful look. "Do you want me to stick around and deal with the PD?" Meaning Morelli will be front and center, Stephanie thought.

"You want to come back to Haywood with me, Steph? You can crash on my sofa and eat all the ice cream in my freezer." And get out of this death trap apartment for the night, he added silently.

"Don't you have a surveillance shift tonight? I don't want to take over your place, Les."

"I got Ram to take my shift. What do you say? I'll even let you sleep in the bed if you promise to keep your hands to yourself," Les replied with an eyebrow waggle. "And if you don't, that's even better."

"I'll try to control myself, even though it will be difficult," Steph said with an eye roll.

After Steph packed a change of clothes, she went with Lester back to Haywood. Lester had made sure to run by McDonald's before they went to his apartment, so Steph settled herself on the couch and dug into a Big Mac and fries while Les picked out a movie to watch.

"Bad Boys 2, Star Wars 4, or Iron Man?"

"Iron Man. Robert Downy, Jr. is hot."

By the time the movie was half way done, Steph had passed out on Lester's shoulder. The stress from finding the bear combined with the resulting adrenaline crash had wiped her out. Les quietly picked up her up and moved her to the bed, taking off her shoes before tucking her in. He took a pillow and a blanket for himself and made a bed out on the couch.

The next morning Les stirred awake by the sound of his cell phone ringing. "Meeting at 8. We've got some info on Steph's latest crazy."

After Les had started some coffee he went to wake Stephanie up, knowing the smell would help rouse her out of bed. She was burrowed under the covers when he walked into the bedroom.

He slowly pulled the covers off of her from the bottom of the bed, letting the light hit her eyelids. Once Stephanie began to stir, Les sat down on the edge of the bed and gently shook her awake.

"C'mon, Beautiful. We've got a meeting to go to in thirty minutes."

"Huh? What time is it?"

"0730 hours. Rise and shine. I've got coffee started, and Ella will have muffins in the conference room."

After Stephanie had showered and worked some magic on her hair, she shuffled out to the kitchen to find that Les had already poured her coffee and fixed it the way she liked.

Up on five, Tank was waiting along with Bobby, Ram, Vince, Cal, Binkie, Hector, and Hal. After Steph had picked out the muffin she figured had the least amount of yucky fiber, she settled in a seat between Les and Hector.

Tank looked at Hal and gave him a nod. "The bear was clean except for some partial fingerprints on the glass eyes. We're running the prints through all the search programs now. The knife had some blood near the handle where the suspect must have nicked themselves when they thrust the blade into the bear's head, so we're running that through the system as well."

"We're not sure if the stalker is mad that Steph embarrassed Morelli on TV," Tank gave her a smile, "or if they're mad at Morelli for dragging her on the show. Until we know more, Little Girl, will you let one of us go with you when you go out?"

Stephanie was grateful that Tank asked her instead of just telling her what he was doing. "I think I can handle that. A little extra muscle when I'm chasing down skips won't hurt."

Hector spoke up next. "Tal vez Steph podría pasar a uno de los apartamentos vacíos hasta que nos encontramos con este idiota." (_Maybe Steph could move into one of the empty apartment until we find this asshole._)

"That's a good idea," Les said. "Beautiful, would you consider moving into one of the empty apartments for a little while? Your apartment is a hard to secure, and this way we won't have to worry about your safety when you're in building."

Stephanie wasn't so keen on the idea at first, and Les could see it on her face. Before she could turn them down, he pulled out the big guns. "Please? It would put my mind at ease."

Steph glared at him. She could never say no to the 'p' word. "Fine. But only until we figure out who this latest crazy is."

Lester flashed her a panty-melting smile. "Awesome. We'll go get some more of your clothes after lunch."

The rest of the meeting passed by in a blur as Stephanie played tic-tac-toe with Hector while the rest of the team discussed other Rangeman business.

Steph saw a stack of searches waiting on her when she got to her cubicle. Rodriguez hadn't wasted any time in filling her in-box. With a long-suffering sigh, she turned on her desktop and got to work.

By the time lunch rolled around, Steph's butt had fallen asleep and she was going stir crazy. She made her way to Tank's office slowly, trying to wake up her sleeping muscles.

"Hey, Big Guy. Who's got Stephanie watch now?"

"You itching to get out already? I think Vince is the lucky one this time."

"I'm just hungry for some Pino's, and I figured I'd run by the bond's office to see if Connie has any new files for me."

"Just be careful out there."

With a finger wave, Steph turned and went to find Vince. She finally found him in the break room.

"You want to get some lunch with me? I've got a craving for Pino's."

"Lead the way, Bomber."

As usual, Pino's was packed with the lunch rush. Stephanie could feel every eye turn to focus on her as soon as they cleared the door.

"Maybe this wasn't the brightest idea I've ever had," she mumbled to herself.

Luck was with her as she spotted a free booth in the back. Vince settled in with his back to the wall, and the waitress came over shortly after Steph slid into the booth. She took their order with a slightly dazed look on her face, thanks to the smile Vince flashed her when she first looked at him.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, flustering her like that. She won't be able to concentrate enough to give the kitchen our order now."

"I can't help it if she can't handle my flirting," Vince responded as he gave her the same heart stopping smile. All the Merry Men were distractingly handsome, with muscles that would make any woman drool. Stephanie just shook her head and took a long sip of her coke.

Stephanie saw Vince tense up and turned around just in time to lock eyes with Joe.

"Shit….I knew this wasn't a good idea. Damn me and my cravings."

Joe stopped directly in front of their table. "What a surprise, Cupcake."

"I asked you not to call me that, Joe. Is there a reason you're over here bothering me?"

"Just wanted to come over and see how you were doing. I saw the mess at your apartment last night."

"Seems somebody isn't very happy with me right now, but I'm sure Rangeman will be able to keep me safe."

Stephanie could see the vein start to pulse angrily in Joe's temple. "Cupcake, I can keep you safe just as well as these thugs can. Come back home with me. The boys miss you."

Steph feel her blood start to boil. "They aren't thugs! And I could care less what you're boys want. You should ask Terri if she misses your boys. I'm sure she'd care a lot more than I do."

"C'mon Cup….I mean, Steph. You know she doesn't mean anything to me. You're the one I want to marry. I was just working with Terri on an undercover case."

"Piss off, Joe. You're killing my Pino's happy buzz."

Before Morelli could open his mouth again, Tank and Hal came up behind him.

"I believe Miss Plum asked you back off. Do I need to talk to the Captain about this, Detective?" Tank seemed even bigger when he was mad.

Hal just stared as Morelli stalked off, bumping into his shoulder as he stalked by.

Vince was laughing quietly to himself. "The boys miss you? Does he mean what I think he means?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Joe isn't very original."

"Good riddance, Bomber. You can do loads better," Hal said without looking at her. He may have opened up a little over the last few months, but he was still very shy around women.

"So how did you two manage to show up at almost the same time Joe did?" Stephanie's curious gaze was met by three blank faces. "Tell me or I'll rat you out to Shorty. He'll never feed you pizza again if he knows you came to Pino's."

"That's playing dirty, Little Girl. It's not really a big deal. We just put a tracker on his car so we'd be able to keep an eye on him." Tank gave her a smug smile as he dug into his sub.

After they paid the tab, Tank and Hal got back in their SUV to head back to Rangeman. Vince beat her to the driver's side of her latest hunk of junk and held his hand out for the keys. With a dirty look, Stephanie slapped the keys into his hand.

"No need to get testy, Bomber. I'm just quicker."

Stephanie continued give him a dirty look. "It's my car, so it seems silly that you insist on driving it."

Vince just grinned at her as he turned the key in the ignition. All they got in response was a clicking noise.

With a panicked look on her face, Stephanie grabbed for the keys as Vince started to turn the ignition again. "Don't! Get out of the car! Now!"

Vince had enough experience with her 'spidey sense' not to question her. A loud _boom! _shook the air just as they reached the awning at the front door of Pino's.

**Don't shoot me! I couldn't resist leaving it on another cliff hanger. Reviews = faster update!**


	5. Chapter 5

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 5

The only thought that ran through Les' mind when he heard Zero yell that Stephanie's tracker had gone offline was getting to her to see if she was safe. Bobby was in the garage when Les ran past him on the way to his truck.

"What's the rush?!"

"Steph's tracker just went offline," Les yelled as he yanked open his door.

"Hold on, let me grab my bag. She might need my help."

Les had the truck waiting by the stairwell when Bobby ran out. Without waiting for him to shut the door, Les pealed out of the garage in the direction of Pino's.

Stephanie looked up just as Les ran up to the entrance of Pino's. He skidded to a halt in front of her and pulled up her into a hug that threatened to cut off her breathing.

Relief flooded through Stephanie as Les' arms closed around her. She felt her heart rate slow and buried her head in Les' chest, soaking up the warmth radiating off him.

"Are you all right, Beautiful? What happened?"

"I'm fine, Les. I can't say the same for my car though. I only had that car for a month! And my purse was in the car too! "

Vince cleared his throat and waited for Santos to unwrap himself from Stephanie's arms. "No doubt that it was a bomb instead of a mechanical failure. Steph heard the clicks after I tried to crank the car. If she hadn't realized what it was and gotten us out when she did, we'd be roasting in that car right now."

"I've had a few cars explode in my vicinity, Vince. The only benefit to that is learning what a bomb sounds like when it's attached to the starter."

Bobby had made it over to Steph two steps behind Lester and was waiting impatiently to check her over.

"Bomber, let me check to make sure you don't have any injuries from the blast. You've got a cut on your forehead that needs attention."

"I'm fine, Bobby. We were out of range for most of the debris."

"Beautiful, don't take any chances. Let Bobby look you over. It'll put my mind at ease. Please?"

Stephanie huffed. "Fine! You had to pull out the big guns, didn't you?"

"I can show you the big gun any time you want," Les replied with a wink.

"That has to be the cheesiest line you've ever used!"

Eddie Gazarra and Big Dog walked over to the back of the truck where Bobby was bandaging the cut on Steph's forehead. She had already waved off the EMS when they tried to check her out.

"So who won the pot this time?" Steph knew they had to have a bet going on how long her latest car would last.

Big Dog grinned. "I've got big plans for this money. There's a new fish finder with my name on it at Bass Pro."

Steph rolled her eyes. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

"We need to get your statement, Steph. I figured you'd rather do it here than have to come down to the station."

"I think that's a good idea, Eddie. I'm surprised Morelli isn't here. He's usually one of the first to show up at one of my catastrophes."

"Oh, he would have been if the Chief hadn't called him as soon as he left. It seems that Terri has been out for blood since she saw his little spectacle on TV. She told the Chief about the affair they've been having, and he wasn't too thrilled to find out his lead detective was tangling the sheets with a mob princess."

"Poor Joe….I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't such a horse's ass."

With Les' arms still around her, Steph gave Eddie the run down on her latest explosion. She felt worn out by the time she finished.

Les could feel the shakes start from her adrenaline let down. "Let's get you back to Haywood so you can lie down for a little. You'll feel better if you rest for a while."

"I'd rather get back to work, but I'd probably fall asleep at my desk. Maybe I will take a short nap."

Les climbed in the back of the SUV with Stephanie and waited for Bobby to pack up his medical supplies. She fell asleep with her head on Les' shoulder as Bobby drove them back to Rangeman. Instead of waking her up to get into her apartment, Les carried her up to his and settled her into his bed. She woke up an hour later spooned up against him.

Les could tell Steph was awake from the change in her breathing. "Feeling better, Beautiful?"

"Much. What time is it?"

"About four o'clock. You were out for a little over an hour."

"I'd better get downstairs and finish the searches I started before lunch. I don't want Rodriguez to think I'm slacking off."

"What are you doing for supper? I'm making chili if you're interested."

"That sounds better than a peanut butter and olive sandwich. What time do I need to be here?"

"It should be done around 6:30, but come down when you finish your searches. We can make some cornbread to go with it."

Stephanie looked at Lester like he had two heads. "You don't really want to risk ruining the cornbread, do you? I cause cooking disasters without even trying to."

"All you have to do is keep me company. I'll do the rest."

After taking a quick shower to get rid of the smoke smell from the explosion, Steph headed to her cubicle to finish Rodriguez's searches. Time seemed to crawl. When she looked at the clock thinking it had been at least half an hour it turned out it was only five minutes. Finally, the last one was done and Steph all but sprinted to the elevator. She might be in a rush to get to Les' apartment, but she wasn't in such a hurry that she'd take the stairs. No sense putting out all that effort when a perfectly good elevator could be used.

Steph was about to knock on the door when Les yelled to let herself in. The smell that hit Stephanie when she stepped inside made her mouth water. Les had his back to her as he stirred a big pot on the stove.

"That smells delicious! Please tell me I don't have to wait very long to eat."

"All we have to do is stick the cornbread in the oven. I figured you'd be hungry, so I went ahead and mixed it up. I didn't want to make you wait any longer than necessary," Les said with a wink.

"You rock, Les. And don't think about making a dirty joke out of that."

"Who, me? I would never!"

Stephanie grabbed a spoon from the counter and dipped out some to taste. Les watched her as she blew on the chili to cool it down. His gaze turned hungry as she let a low moan escape when she tasted it.

"This is fantastic, Les! Where did you learn how to make this?"

"My Dad taught me how to cook. My mom was a disaster in the kitchen, so he handled most of the cooking."

"No wonder my cooking skills don't faze you!"

"You remind me of her a little. She's got an independent streak too. She met my dad while they were both in the Army."

Stephanie listened as Lester told her more about his family. She was still getting used to the way he opened up about his life. Even though they were cousins, he was as different from Ranger as night and day.

They discussed their childhoods as they waited for the cornbread to cook. Lester laughed so hard he cried when Stephanie told him about putting hair remover in Valerie's shampoo when she was in high school.

"You never told her what you did? Why did she think her hair fell out?"

"I told her that sometimes the stress of being so perfect could cause sudden hair loss. She bought it hook, line, and sinker, and she even snuck out with me a few times after that. Said she didn't want to risk losing her hair again."

"You're evil! Remind me to never get on your bad side."

The oven timer went off just as the smell of the cornbread baking was about to drive Steph mad. Les cut it into triangles and transferred it to a plate as Steph dipped out bowls of chili and topped them with shredded cheese. They sat at the kitchen bar and ate in companionable silence, except for the frequent moans from Stephanie.

Les squirmed, trying to find a way to take some pressure off the growing problem in his cargos. "You're killing me, Beautiful! Eating with you is like listening to porn sound track."

"Sorry, Les. It's not my fault it's so good!"

After cleaning up the kitchen, they settled on the couch to finish the movie Steph had fallen asleep watching the night before. Les was running his fingers up and down her arm, sending electric tingles down her spine, and Steph was having a hard time focusing on _Iron Man_. She looked up at him and saw a smirk on is lips. "You must like distracting me, Les."

"It's not my fault you're so irresistible." His face turned serious. "I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you this afternoon, Steph. When Zero yelled that your tracker was offline, the only thought I had was checking to see if you were safe. You've become very important to me over the last few months."

Stephanie felt her heart flutter at his words. Instead of responding, she reached up and kissed him.

Les quickly recovered from his initial shock. Pulling her on to his lap, he ran one hand up to tangle in the hair at the back of her head and used the other to pull her closer. Running his tongue over the seam of her lips, he heard her sigh and open her mouth so he could deepen the kiss. Her hands ran up his arms and grasped his shoulders, her nails digging in slightly as Lester's lips started to travel down her neck, his tongue tasting her skin. He gently sucked at the skin of her pulse point, causing another moan to tumble from Steph's throat.

Stephanie reclaimed his lips hungrily. Scratching her nails down his chest, she nipped at his lower lip and placed kisses along his jaw, working her way to his ear. Steph heard his breathing catch when she traced the shell of his ear with her tongue.

Lester ran his hands under Steph's shirt, soaking up the feel of her soft skin, and began to trace up and down her spine, causing her to shiver. Just as his fingers began to work at the clasp on her bra, Steph felt his phone vibrate against her leg.

"Do you need to get that?"

"Probably, but they can wait," Les replied as he got her bra unhooked and cupped her breasts, flicking his thumbs over her nipples. Stephanie ground her hips against his, drawing a low groan from Les. Tugging at his shoulders, she urged him to sit up so she could pull his shirt over his head and tossed it toward the end of the couch. Steph slowly ran her hands over his chest, gently scraping over his nipples. In a flash, Steph's shirt and bra joined Lester's and she found herself flat on her back with Les hovering over her, cradled between her legs.

The banging on the door startled them both. Stephanie snatched up her shirt and bra and took off for the bathroom. Mumbling under his breath about bad timing and unwelcome interruptions, Les pulled his shirt on as he made his way to the door.

Tank looked slightly amused as he took in Lester's disheveled appearance. "Meeting in 15 minutes. We've got the preliminary report from the CSI techs on the explosion this afternoon."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N - This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I wanted to post this sooner rather than later. All Spanish is courtesy of Google Translate.

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 6

Everyone was seated by the time they made it to the conference room, except for one spot near the door. Les pulled Steph onto his lap when she tried to stand against the wall. With a raised eyebrow in their direction, Tank called the meeting to order.

"Hal, what did the CSI techs find?"

"The initial findings show that the bomb was attached to the starter, so that when Steph turned the ignition the bomb would go off. This is an old school bomb, since most modern terrorists and assassins prefer to magnetically attach theirs. The old way takes much longer. For someone to wire the bomb to Steph's car while she was in Pino's, they'd have to be an expert. My guess is somebody with mob ties."

"You've managed to piss off the mob this time, Bomber?"

Tank smacked Bobby on the back of the head. "I'm sure you didn't mean to be an ass, Brown."

"Of course not! That just came out wrong. What I meant is that the mob has a long memory. They don't usually just let things go, so this could be big trouble."

"Looks like Terri is holding a grudge, Bomber. But I don't see why. You turned Morelli down, so I'd say you did her a favor."

"I don't know, Vince. For some reason that doesn't feel right. I know she has plenty of reason to hate me, but we've always been civil. I think it's somebody else."

Tank looked at Stephanie with a serious expression. "Until we know more, be extra cautious. Steph, I'd like for you to drive one of the Rangeman vehicles since they have bomb detectors. If this ass hat tried once, he'll try again. Keep your eyes open, and make sure you take one of us with you when you go chasing skips." He looked over at Hector. "Are those new trackers ready for use yet?"

"He trabajado en terminar ellos la noche anterior, así que estamos listos. Incluso Bomber no debe tener un problema con esto." _(I worked on finishing them last night, so they're ready. Even Bomber shouldn't have a problem with these.)_

"Steph, make sure you pick up them up before you leave the building again." Tank gave Steph a level stare and waited for her to make a fuss over wearing a tracker. She didn't disappoint.

"I'm going to have one of the guys with me anyway! Why do I need to have a tracker too? I'll have absolutely no privacy!" She resisted the urge to stomp her foot like a petulant five-year old.

"Little Girl, if I've learned anything from dealing with the stalkers you attract, it's to be prepared for the worst."

"C'mon Beautiful, it won't be so bad. Knowing Hector, he's probably made them into cute little hair bows or some other girly thing."

With an eye roll, Steph spun on her heel to follow Hector to his third floor work shop. Curiosity got the best of him, so Lester followed her.

Hector picked up a pretty hair pin from his desk. "Hice este en una horquilla que usted puede usar en su cola de caballo. Nadie va a pensar para comprobar si te secuestraron." _(I made this one into a hair pin you can wear in your ponytail. Nobody will think to check it if you get kidnapped.)_

Stephanie took the pin from Hector and smiled as Lester translated for her. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. It looked like something she would pick out herself. "Did you design this, Hector? It's beautiful."

"Sí. Traté de mantener su estilo en mente. No puedo imaginar a Lester necesidad de una horquilla para nada. A pesar de que me volvería a pagar un buen dinero para verlo." _(__Yes. I tried to keep your style in mind. I can't picture Lester needing a hair pin for anything. Although, I'd pay good money to see it.)_

Hector picked up a pair of earrings next. They were simple silver studs, but there were different jackets that could be slipped on to them to change the look.

"He diseñado estos para que usted pudiera vestir para arriba o que sean sencillas para llevar con tus jeans cotidianas. Trajes de plata para colorear su mejor, y me hizo algunas chaquetas de piedras semi-preciosas que se pueden cambiar hacia fuera para adaptarse a cualquier equipo que usted use." _(I designed these so that you could dress them up or keep them simple to wear with your everyday jeans. Silver suits your coloring better, and I made some jackets out of semi-precious stones that you can switch out to match any outfit you wear.)_

Stephanie smiled at his attention to detail. None of the other guys would have thought about being able to change her look. "Have you thought about designing jewelry to sell? These are wonderful, Hector. I'd wear these even if I didn't need a tracker."

He grinned at her compliment. "Me gusta la electrónica demasiado que hacer esto a tiempo completo. Por lo general sólo hacen cosas para mi novio." _(__I like electronics too much to do this full time. I usually only make things for my boyfriend.)_

Steph gave him a hug after Lester had translated for her. "Gracias. I'll wear them everyday, Hector."

Lester grinned. Hector was a sly fox, designing something especially for her so that she'd feel like they were a gift instead of something to keep her safe.

Steph gave Hector a finger wave as she stepped in the elevator. Once the doors closed, Lester backed her into the corner and placed his hands on either side of her head. Leaning down, he let his breath tickle her ear as he spoke. "Should we go back to my apartment or yours, Beautiful?"

Steph felt a shiver run down her spine as his teeth grazed her ear lobe. "Yours. We have a movie to finish."

Once they were back inside his apartment, Les pulled her back on to his lap on the couch. When he leaned up to kiss her, Steph stopped him with a palm on his chest.

"I think we need to slow down just a little, Les. I'm not sure what you're looking for from me. You know I don't do casual sex, and I know you don't do serious relationships."

"Beautiful, I've wanted more than that with you since before we started spending more time together. I just didn't think it was the right time to make a move since you were dealing with Morelli and my idiot cousin. You're the first woman I've known that I wanted to have more than a one-night fling with."

"Let's take this one day at a time, ok? After dealing with Joe's bull shit, and Ranger's hot and cold game, I need to take things slow."

"That's fine. I've waited for this opportunity for a while now, so I can be patient."

"That doesn't mean I don't want you to kiss me, Les. I just wanted to talk before you scrambled my brain."

He gave her a panty ruining smile. "Good to know, Beautiful, 'cause I intend to kiss you as often as possible."

Stephanie smiled at him. She definitely could get on board with that.

With a quick kiss, Les moved her so she could snuggle into his side while they watched the rest of _Iron Man._

_I've turned into a huge review slut! Leave me some love!  
_


	7. Chapter 7

A/N - I try to respond to all my reviews, but I can't if you left one as a guest. I appreciate everybody taking the time to show some love!

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 7

The next day Steph worked on searches until about two o'clock. Deciding a break was in order, she grabbed the latest victim for Bombshell duty and took off for the bond's office.

Hal insisted on driving. He seemed to suffer from the same inability to ride in a passenger seat as the rest of the Rangemen. When Stephanie requested a stop at Tasty Pastry, Hal grinned at her. "I knew you were going to want to stop there. Tell me what you want and I'll run in to get it."

The Rangeman parking karma was still in effect as a spot opened up directly in front. Stephanie gave Hal a half-hearted glare. "I think I can manage to order some doughnuts without blowing up the store."

"It's not that Bomber. It's just safer out here in the SUV since it's got bullet-resistant glass and bomb detectors. I'd hate to be responsible for something happening to you. "

"Fine! Get an assorted dozen. That should be enough for me and the girls."

They must have been starving since Lula and Connie didn't speak a word to Steph as they snatched the box out of her hands. After she had devoured her first doughnut, Connie spared Steph a glance.

"There aren't any new files for you today, and you should be clear for a few days. Nobody has a court date coming until next week."

"Things are too quiet lately. If this keeps up my shoe budget is going to suffer."

"No kidding, White Girl! Speaking of shoes, I got a hot date tomorrow night. You wanna hit the shoe sale at Macy's and help me find something to go with my new outfit?"

Stephanie grinned when she glanced at Hal. This would be good revenge for making her sit in the truck at the Tasty Pastry and not letting her drive. "Sure. My searches are done, and I don't have any files, so I'm free the rest of the afternoon."

"We should stop at Cluck in a Bucket on the way. Shopping takes energy and you didn't pick up enough doughnuts to last very long. A voluptuous woman like me needs more than 3 measly doughnuts to be able to shop. I didn't know Halosaurus was such a sweets freak."

Hal blushed. "The only time I get to have them is when I'm with Steph. Ranger's pretty strict about banning sweets."

Once they stocked up on fried chicken and biscuits, Hal drove them to Quakerbridge Mall and parked in a space near the front. The last thing he wanted to do was follow Steph and Lula around the mall all afternoon, and it showed on his face. He stayed with them, though, and grimaced every time Lula tried to get his opinion.

"What about these? I think they scream 'throw me down and fuck me' but I need a man's opinion." Lula turned as she modeled the shoes for Hal and Steph.

Hal turned six shades of red at Lula's comment. Steph laughed and decided to help out by answering for him. "I think those will be perfect. Your date won't know what hit him."

After they paid for Lula's FMP's, Lula made a detour to Victoria's Secret. Hal turned an even deeper shade of red.

"I think I'll be safe in a store full of women, Hal. Why don't you sit on that bench over there and watch the entrance? We shouldn't be long."

Hal looked uncertain. "I'm supposed to stay with you no matter where you go. We still don't know if the stalker is a man or a woman."

"I've got my panic button, and nothing has happened yet. You're close enough I can yell if I get into trouble."

He looked like he was arguing with himself. A moment later, Hal nodded and sat down on the bench, watching every person that came within thirty feet of the entrance.

Once she got inside, Stephanie decided to do a little shopping for herself as well.

After helping Lula decided between a hot pink bra and panty set and a leopard print bustier and thong, Steph looked around for something she thought Les would like. She may have asked him to go slow, but it never hurt to be prepared….

She finally gave up trying to pick one out of the three outfits she had in her hands and decided to get all of them. She'd be covered no matter what mood struck her at the time.

With their wallets considerably lighter, Steph and Lula made their way out the store to collect Hal from his sentry on the 'husband bench'.

As they were coming out of Macy's a woman with mousey brown hair and thick glasses bumped into Steph, almost knocking her shopping bag out of her hands.

"Excuse me," she mumbled. Steph kept walking, not giving it a second thought.

When they loaded their bags into the back of the SUV, Steph's bag landed with a _clunk_. With a puzzled look on her face, she opened the bag and pulled out a square device with ominous looking wires coming out of the sides.

With a panicked screech, Steph threw the box as far as she could. Hal grabbed Lula and Steph and pulled them to the ground, covering them with his body. A deafening explosion ripped through the air, sending shrapnel raining over the parking lot.

Once he was sure the worst was over, Hal stood up, pulling Lula and Steph with him. "Are you two okay?"

Lula was too busy screaming to hear him. "Oh my God! White Girl, you have the worst luck with stalkers. Is my hair messed up? I just got it done, and I don't think I'd have time to get it fixed before my date. I need a doughnut. And a Big Mac. And some French fries. I eat when I get stressed out. If my hair is messed up I'm gonna find the fucker that gave you that bomb and shove my Via Spigas up his ass."

Steph rolled her eyes as Lula continued to rant and rave. "I'm fine, Hal. Are you all right?" She noticed a few shallow cuts on his shoulder as she brushed the dirt off his shirt.

"I'm fine, Bomber," Hal replied as he took out his cell phone to call Rangeman.

Ten minutes later two shiny black SUV's rolled to a stop. Les jumped out of the one in front, pushing his way through the crowd that had gathered at the scene.

Lester grabbed Steph and wrapped his arms around her. Once he was sure she was uninjured, he turned to Hal.

"What happened? You were supposed to keep her safe!"

Hal looked surprised at Les' outbreak, but before he could respond Stephanie jumped in.

"He did! Hal protected us from the blast. Speaking of which, where's Bobby? He needs to look at some cuts on Hal's shoulder."

It seemed like hours passed before Stephanie was cleared to leave the scene by the TPD. Bobby had checked her and Lula over before taking Hal back to Rangeman to clean and sew up his cuts. Lula left as soon as the first cop car showed up, giving the excuse of getting reading for her date. Les never left her side while she gave all the details she could remember to Eddie and Big Dog.

Once they got back to Haywood, Les brought her up to the conference room. Anger and worry had taken the place of the usual blank faces the guys usually wore.

Tank stood, and the quiet chatter instantly died. "Give us the rundown, Steph."

For the second time in as many hours, Steph gave as much information as she could remember. Hal added details about the appearance of the bomb.

"It was definitely a professional. It was too neatly put together to be somebody working off of something they found on YouTube."

Tank looked at Steph with concern. "I think we need to consider putting you in a safe house. Whoever this is doesn't seem to be deterred by our presence when you leave Haywood. You've been out twice since the bear was left at your apartment, and both times an attempt was made on your life."


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I've added an image for the story...in my mind, this is what Lester looks like. Check my profile for more - I'm adding pictures for my cast of characters as I run across images that match the picture I have in my head. _

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 8

Stephanie tried to reason with him. "Oh come on, Tank! Just because some nut is after me doesn't mean you need to banish me to a safe house! If it'll make you feel better, I'll stay in the building for a few days. If you send me to a safe house, I'll go nuts. At least I can help find this asshat if I stay here."

Tank looked uncertain. "I don't like the risk to your safety by having you here. Everybody knows you're staying in the building, and that makes it a target. It's a secure building, but I don't want to take chances."

"What if we made a big show of moving Steph to a safe house? We'll just circle around and bring her back here once we're sure nobody's following us. That way she'll be safe, and we won't have to worry about her losing her sanity." Les' mouth twitched up into a small smile as he spoke.

"I'll give it some thought. We'll meet again in two hours." Tank stopped Steph leaving with the rest of the guys with a hand on her shoulder. "I've got to call Ranger and run all this by him. He may be in another office, but any time our safe houses are used I have to tell him. I haven't told him about your stalker yet because I knew you needed time away from him, but I can't keep him out of the loop any longer."

Steph was taken back by Tank's thoughtfulness. She'd been wondering why she hadn't heard from Ranger since the bear was left at her door, and now it made sense. Tank was giving her more time to heal and move on.

She threw her arms around Tank's neck and kissed him on the cheek. Steph could have sworn she saw him blush. "Thanks, Big Guy. And I understand. I had to see him again eventually anyway, and I think I can handle it now."

"I don't know what happened between you two, but I figured it wasn't good from the mood he was in when he left for Miami. For a while after he left you were walking around like a zombie. I've noticed the old Stephanie coming back in the last couple of weeks, and I think I know who's responsible for the change. I just need to make sure he understands the consequences of hurting you." Tank looked positively happy at the thought of getting his message across to Les.

Stephanie wasn't sure if pod people had replaced Tank with a much chattier version, but she decided she liked this new model. "Let me know what he says, please. I'd like to know when he's coming in."

"Why don't you take a break and have dinner? I called Ella before the meeting and she should have something waiting for you in your apartment."

Stephanie looked at her watch. She hadn't realized how late it was. The payroll paperwork could wait until tomorrow. With a yawn, she turned to hit the button for the elevator.

Once she got to her apartment she stripped off her clothes as she headed for the shower. She needed to wash off the stress of the day before she got sidetracked by Ella's cooking.

After drying her hair and throwing on some cotton boy shorts and a tank top, Steph made her way to the kitchen. She found a double helping of spaghetti and meatballs in the fridge, along with garlic bread sticks. She followed the heating instructions Ella left on a sticky note on top of the Tupperware, and the smell coming from the microwave made her mouth water. There was a knock on the door as the microwave beeped that it was done. With an irritated frown, Steph put down the plate of spaghetti and walked over to check the peep-hole. Her face broke into a grin when she saw Les on the other side.

"I have to wonder if you're just lucky or if you plan it."

Les looked puzzled. "Why do you say that?"

"I just finished heating up some Ella food, and there's enough for two. You are either lucky or you knew she dropped off my dinner."

"Beautiful, I won't reveal my secrets, but if you want to make me a lucky man, I'd be more than happy to bow to your wishes."

Stephanie decided to ignore the bait and pulled Les towards the kitchen. "I'll share with you since I think you're cute. But I expect a thank you later."

"Count on it, Beautiful." Les looked her up and down like she was dessert. He'd be happy to show just how grateful he was.

Les watched Stephanie eat with an intense gaze. Every moan from her made his pants fit worse. By the time they finished and were cleaning up their mess, Les had more than he could handle. Taking the last dish from her hand, he placed it in the dishwasher, then turned and pinned Steph against the counter. With his hands on either side of her, he took her mouth in a searing kiss that Stephanie felt all the way to her toes. When his tongue caressed hers, she let out a low moan and pressed herself closer to him. One arm wrapped around his neck, and the other ran over the muscles of his back.

Les pulled back slightly before he completely lost control. He wanted to take her right now, but knew that she wasn't quite ready yet. He didn't want to ruin their relationship before it really got off the ground.

Stephanie looked up at Les with a slightly glazed look in her eyes. After a light kiss on the corner of his mouth, she sighed and laid her head on his chest. His arms closed around her and held on tight.

Steph jumped a little when her phone vibrated and 'Wanted Dead or Alive' began to play. Tank's ringtone….which meant he'd made his decision. She answered the call and put it on speaker. "My office in fifteen minutes." He hung up without another word. The lack of phone manners was really starting to piss her off.

"I guess he's made a decision, or had one made for him." Stephanie was a little worried that Ranger would take away any options except a safe house.

"Want me to take your mind off it for a little while longer?" Les was looking at her like she was water after he'd been in the desert for weeks.

Fourteen and a half minutes later Stephanie and Lester stepped off the elevator, with Steph's face sporting a smile she couldn't seem to wipe off. Les had done a great job of distracting her.

They were holding hands when they walked into Tank's office. With a raised eyebrow in their direction, he motioned for them to sit.

"Ranger doesn't like your diversion idea, Les, but he's willing to try it. He knows that trying to keep Steph in a place she doesn't want to be is an uphill battle. He, uh, was also not real happy that nobody told him sooner about the stalker. He's flying in from Miami on the Rangeman jet in the morning so he can take point on the investigation."

"I really didn't expect him to stay away once you told him, Tank. I'm surprised it didn't leak before now anyway. You guys gossip worse than the old ladies at the Clip 'n Curl."

Tank and Les looked pained. "Beautiful, we don't gossip. We share information that is vital to other people's security."

Stephanie gave an unladylike snort. "Whatever, Les. In the civilian world we call it gossip." She turned her attention back to Tank. "So when do we put Operation Horse Hockey in play?"

Tank looked puzzled. "Horse Hockey?"

"Yeah, you know….bullshit."

A small smile played at the corner of his mouth. "We'll get everything set for tomorrow at 2000 hours. That gives Ranger time to get here and caught up to speed. It'll also give us time to get a rumor circulating about moving you to a safe house. Why don't you call your mom and tell her what's going on? That ought to get the grapevine going."

"That's a good idea. Even though she won't mean to, she'll let it slip to somebody. I'll call her in the morning."

Les and Tank started talking about the safest but busiest route to take tomorrow. Stephanie felt her eyes begin to droop when they started arguing about the number of stop lights along one route. She woke up feeling like she was floating, and realized Les was carrying her back to her apartment. "You can put me down, Les. My legs work just fine."

"I know they do, but I like spoiling you."

With a happy sigh, Steph laid her head back on his shoulder and enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her. She was out again before they reached her apartment door.

Stephanie woke up the next morning sprawled across Lester's chest. She slowly opened her eyes and listened to his breathing. It was still to shallow for him to be awake yet. Closing her eyes again, she began to run her hand over the muscles in his abs, enjoying the feel of him under her fingers. As she was working her way up to his chest, Les woke up. "Good morning, Beautiful."

"Morning, Les. What time is it?"

"About six. I've got to get up if I'm going to get in a work out before my shift starts."

"Mmmm…..that's a shame. I'm pretty comfortable right now."

"I'm pretty comfortable with you stretched out on me too, but duty calls."

Steph tried to go back to sleep after Les left, but her mind wouldn't shut off. She gave up after a few minutes of tossing and turning and decided it wouldn't kill her to spend some time in the gym. Besides, walking on the treadmill while staring at hot guys hardly counted as working out. Nothing like some eye candy for motivation.

She got a few double takes as she walked in the gym. After turning on her iPod, she picked the treadmill with the best view of the mats where Les was sparring with Bobby and set off at a fast walk.

Watching Les and Bobby spar was poetry in motion. Neither one could land a solid punch or kick since they were so evenly matched. They seemed able to predict the other's movements. Before she knew it an hour had passed and Les was walking over to her, a fine sheen of sweat covering his skin. Steph tried to check for drool without being too obvious.

"Did you enjoy the show?"

Bobby came up behind Les and gave him a playful shove. "I'm sure she enjoyed watching me. I am the better looking of the two of us."

"In your dreams, Brown! My woman only has eyes for me, ain't that right, Beautiful?"

"Your woman? Are you gonna drag me off to your cave by my hair now?"

With a mischievous grin, Les leaned down and threw Steph over his shoulder.

"Put me down! I didn't mean for you to take me literally!"

"At least I'm not dragging you by your hair, Steph," Les replied as he headed for the stairs.

Steph knew he'd put her down if she really protested, but she decided the view of Lester's ass in his gym shorts was too tempting for her to fight very hard.

Once he reached her door, Les put her down, sliding her down his hard chest in the process. With a quick kiss, he went to his apartment to shower. Stephanie waited until his door shut and her view was gone before letting herself in to her apartment to do the same.

Steph was showered, dressed, and at her desk by eight o'clock. She worked on payroll paperwork until ten when her stomach loudly voiced its need for a snack.

Once she raided the break room fridge for the least healthy snack she could find, Steph started on the searches Rodriguez had left in her inbox. She decided to use the downtime waiting on the searches to finish to call her mom. After ten minutes of listening to how Marjorie Zajack's daughter didn't blow up mall parking lots and how she would never get married if she kept causing trouble, Steph finally managed to get a word in edgewise.

"Mom, I'm not going to be able to call for a few days. Tank thinks that I need to go to a safe house until they find my latest stalker."

"Stephanie, if you would quit that dangerous job you wouldn't get into this trouble. How long do you think you'll be hiding?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll let you know as soon as I get back." Steph finally ended the call after promising to come to dinner as soon as she could.

She was just finishing the last bite of her cheese and crackers when the normal noise on the floor died down to a whisper. Peeking over her cubicle, she saw Ranger disappear into Tank's office. Taking a deep breath, Steph decided to concentrate on her work. Denial Land had worked for her for years, and taking a short vacation there wouldn't hurt. If she pretended everything was fine, it would be…for now. Sooner than she expected, she felt the familiar tingle on the back of her neck.

Steph felt a hand on her shoulder. "Babe."

**_Leave me some love! More reviews = more frequent__ updates!_**


	9. Chapter 9

_Thanks, Jessica, for your encouragement._

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 9

Steph turned around and resisted the urge to slap Ranger. "Hey Ranger. Did you just get in?"

His response was a slight nod. With a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, he tucked a curl behind her ear.

"I hear you've attracted another crazy."

"Yep, just another normal, average day in the life of Stephanie Plum. I've got some work to finish before lunch, so…."

"Come up to seven for lunch, Babe. We can go over the plan for tonight."

"No thanks, Ranger. Tank's already given me the details."

A puzzled expression crossed his features briefly before his blank face slammed back down, and Stephanie had to bite back a laugh. She usually jumped at any chance to be alone with him. Apparently Tank's report hadn't included any of her and Lester's developing relationship.

"Let me know if you change your mind." With that, he turned went to his office, shutting his door with a little more force than necessary.

With a slight smirk on her face Steph turned back to her computer to finish the last search. She was just putting the file in her outbox when Les spun her around and kissed her soundly.

Steph immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. Once they were both breathing heavier, Les pulled back far enough to speak.

"How about some lunch, Beautiful? I've got some leftover chili in my apartment."

"Sounds wonderful. Is there any cornbread left?"

"I saved some just for you, Steph."

Once they were in the elevator, Les backed Steph into a corner and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Will you be my dessert?"

She felt a shiver run down her spine as his breath tickled her skin. Her hands fisted in his shirt as Les began placing feather light kisses on her neck.

When the elevator doors opened, Les had to give her hand a gentle pull to bring her back to Earth. With a slight head shake to clear her head, Steph followed him to his apartment.

Les had just put the cornbread in the oven to re-heat when there was a loud banging on the door. Stephanie gave Lester a worried look, but all he did was shrug his shoulders. She noticed he answered the door with clenched fists, though.

Ranger stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest making him twice as big as usual, with a murderous expression on his face. "Explain." _He's still his normal chatty self,_ Steph thought. She rolled her eyes when Lester mimicked Ranger's stance.

Stephanie stepped in between the two posturing men. "Explain what? If you mean what I think you do, it's none of your business."

Ranger glared at Les over her head. "My business is your safety. I don't want you to get hurt, Babe."

Stephanie felt the color rise to her face as she went into rhino mode. "Don't want me to get hurt? You've got a lot of nerve saying that to anybody. You've played with me for years, Ranger, and this last time when you pushed me away, Les was the one that helped me pick up the pieces. If I'm in danger of getting hurt, _again_, it's from you. I trust him. He's done nothing but be my friend until the last couple of days. As for whatever else is developing between Les and me, that ceased to be your problem when you tucked tale and ran to Miami when we started getting closer a few months ago." She began to poke her finger in Ranger's chest as she spoke. "And as for _our_ friendship, I'm not feeling too friendly right now, Ranger. For now, all we are is employer and employee."

Ranger's blank mask began to slip when she poked him in the chest, and Steph began to see some of the shock he must be in. Grabbing her hand, he kissed her wrist. "Babe, I did what I had to do to protect you. Tank hadn't told me any details other than what was going on with your stalker. If you and Les are happy, then I can live with that. But if he ever hurts you, I'll kill him and the only thing left for his mother to bury will be fingerprints." Ranger's face had the same happy expression Tank's had when he'd told Steph the same thing yesterday. It was short-lived, though. His blank face slipped back in place when he released her hand. With a final glare at Lester, he turned and left the apartment, shutting the door with a snap.

Steph stood with her back still turned to Les while she tried to get her temper back under control. She jumped slightly when Les came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle.

With his breath caressing her ear, he asked, "Do you know how sexy you are when you get mad?"

Leaning her head against his shoulder, Steph let out a long breath. "You've got it bad if you think I look good when I'm in rhino mode."

"Hmmm. You got one thing right, Beautiful. I do have it bad, but you don't just look good. You're hot. When you're mad your eyes spark and turn a deeper shade of blue, and you're skin flushes. It's a shame we don't have but half an hour left for lunch, or I'd show you exactly how hot I think you are." With that last statement, Les nipped the skin at the pulse point on her neck and pulled her up against his hard body. Before he could lose control, Les released her and put some distance between their bodies. "How about we finish lunch?"

"What lunch?" Steph's stomach took that opportunity to remind her they hadn't eaten yet. "Oh! Right. Let's eat."

When she got back to her desk thirty minutes later, Steph found Tank waiting on her. "I reserved some time for you in the gun range this afternoon at 1400. Ram will be down there to give you a refresher course." When Steph started to argue, Tank held up his hand to silence her. "No arguments, Little Girl. With everything going on lately, it couldn't hurt. Please," Tank added as an afterthought, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. It seemed to work for Santos, so why not give it a try?

With a Burg-worthy eye roll, Steph just nodded. Damn Tank and his shameless guerilla tactics!

Steph worked steadily until two. Gathering her Sig out of her desk, she trudged down the range to meet Ram. She may have gotten more comfortable with her gun over the last few weeks, but she still didn't like it.

Ram gave her smile that sped up her heart rate. "You're mine for the next hour, Bomber. You ready to show those paper men whose boss?"

"Lead the way, Tonto."

"Tonto?! If anything, I'm the Lone Ranger, and you're Tonto."

"Whatever, kemo sabe. I thought you'd be happy with the Johnny Depp comparison, but you can be the Lone Ranger if it makes you happy."

With a bark of laughter, Ram put her ear protection on. Once the paper victim was twenty-five yards away, Steph loaded her gun and took aim. She surprisingly felt better after blasting through a clip.

Ram grinned at her when he reeled the target in. "Did you mean for all the shots to land in the groin area, Bomber? Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"I couldn't help myself. I kept seeing Joe's face, and I decided to run with it. Maybe my next target will be Ranger."

Ram looked like he wanted to laugh, but checked himself after glancing at the camera in the corner. With a small smile on his lips, he set up her next target.

As tempting as it was to shoot paper Ranger in the same area as Joe's, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she concentrated on the shoulders and hands. If she had to use her gun, she'd rather shoot to disarm instead of kill.

Ram whistled when he brought the target back in and saw the straight line of shots going down both arms. "Nice shooting, Tex. Keep that up and you'll be able to out-shoot me."

Steph continued going through her normal range work out. When three o'clock rolled around, Ram swept up the spent shells while Steph put away her unused ammo and gathered the dead paper targets to throw away. Just as she was rolling the paper up, Ranger walked into the room.

"Mind if I take a look? If you can impress Ram, you must be doing pretty good."

With a cat that ate the canary smile, Steph handed them over. She could tell when he got to the one she'd made especially for him.

His eyes widened slightly as he took in the shots down both arms, then narrowed when he saw the 'R' shot into the face.

"Getting a little frustration out, Babe?"


	10. Chapter 10

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 10

Ram watched the scene from the other side of the room. "Visualization seems to be the key to get Bomber to shoot like that. Some people channel anger or frustration to increase their aim, but she seems to take it a step further."

Ranger shot him a look that would have lesser men peeing themselves. "Whatever works best. Keep this up, Babe, and you'll be able to shoot as well as I do."

"Well, I've got plenty of time to kill. Why don't you show me what I have to compete against? Ram's the best shot at Rangeman other than you, and I've almost got him beat."

Ranger seemed a little surprised at her brashness. Without a word, he took out his Glock and put on his eye and ear protection while Ram sent out another paper target. Stephanie expected him to stop at one clip, but he went through four before he finished.

With a grin on his face, Ram held up the target for her to see. Instead of his normal swagger of one hole for an entire clip, Steph saw the Batman logo on the torso.

She narrowed her eyes. "Smart ass."

Ranger leaned down so that only Steph could hear him. "But you love my ass."

Steph watched him leave the room. Who knew the man of mystery had a sense of humor?

The rest of the afternoon passed with no more interruptions from Ranger. Steph worked steadily at her desk putting the finishing touches on a few client contracts. Lula called as she was finishing the last one for the day.

"You got plans for supper? My date for tonight cancelled. I'm all dressed up, and I don't want to waste all this hotness."

"I don't think it's a good idea for me to leave the building, but you can come here. We can find something to watch on Netflix."

"Damn. I guess that'll work. Maybe I'll see some hot muscle men on the way in to your apartment. What you want me to bring?"

"How about Thai food? There's a new place on the way to Haywood. Bobby said they've got good noodles."

"Works for me. Call it in for me. I want some chicken ginger stir fry and coconut soup. And some spring rolls. And some of those little dumpling things too."

After hanging up, Stephanie called and put in Lula's order, plus some pad Thai and lemon grass soup for her.

Twenty minutes later Lula and Stephanie were stretched out on the couch, surrounded by take out containers, and arguing over which movie to watch. Lula wanted _Walking Tall. _Steph was more interested in _Casablanca_.

"How can you want to watch a movie with a bunch of dead actors in it instead of The Rock? That man is so fine a nun would break her vows to get a chance with him."

"The story line in _Casablanca_ is so much better though! I mean, c'mon…in love with one man she can't have and staying with another out of duty? I'm not saying The Rock isn't hot, but _Casablanca _is the best love story ever!"

"I'm not gonna go into why I think you like that movie so much. Besides, you got all the hotness you can look at around here. I ain't so lucky. I gotta take every chance I get to see a fine man."

Steph gave Lula her best Burg death glare. "Fine! I can always watch it later."

It was almost time for Operation Horse Hockey by the time the movie was over, so Steph left with Lula. Les was already waiting for her in the garage, leaning against a SUV with her bullet proof vest in one hand. When she stopped a couple of feet in front of him, Les grabbed her, pulling her against him, and gave her with a toe curling kiss.

"Damn, girl. Looks like y'all have become more than friends. How come you didn't tell me about it earlier? I want details!"

Stephanie turned a deep shade of pink. "It just happened in the last couple of days, Lula. I'm still getting used to it. And I'm not sharing any more details about Les than I did Joe or Ranger."

"It's all right, Beautiful. You can tell her what a big personality I've got," Les said with a wink.

Lula just stared the two of them. Steph braced herself for some embarrassing questions, but thankfully the elevator doors slid open and Tank, Hal, and Bobby stepped out. With a last look that promised more prying later, Lula got in her car and peeled out of the garage.

When Steph tried to bury her head in his chest, Les tipped her head up and kissed her again. She was beginning to forget why she was embarrassed, hell, she was forgetting her own name, until Tank cleared his throat. With her face burning again, Steph laid her head on Les' shoulder and took a deep breath.

"As soon as Ranger gets down here we'll load up and head out. Bomber, you're going to ride with Ranger, Les, and me in the first SUV. Hal, Hector, and Bobby will be in front of us, and Ram and Vince will bring up the rear. We're going to drive out to a safe house a few miles west of Newark. After we've made a show of moving you inside, we're going to make sure the area's clear before coming back here. Did you bring your disguise Steph?"

"Yep, it's already in the truck. I don't know who picked out that wig, but they must have watched _Joe Dirt _one too many times."

Bobby looked sheepish. "That's my fault, Bomber. I thought going for something completely unexpected would throw them off."

"I'm still not convinced that wig is necessary. I can just pin my hair under a hat. That'll be more believable than that wig. I can't see a Merry Man sporting a rug like that. Passing me off as one of you guys might be believable with that Halloween muscle suit you found, but that hair is ridiculous."

"Just use your best judgment, Babe." Ranger had finally found his way downstairs and was leaning against one of the other SUV's, watching her and Les with an intense gaze.

Ranger shifted his gaze to the rest of the group. "Any other questions or concerns?" Silence. "Load up, then."

They made it to the safe house with no trouble. As expected, they were followed until they hit the Newark city limits. The convoy split up, and the tale followed Ram and Vince as they rode around downtown Newark.

Once they were at the safe house, Steph locked herself in the master bedroom with Hector. She tried the mullet wig on first, and couldn't stop laughing at herself once she saw her reflection in the mirror. Hector just grinned and handed her a Rangeman baseball hat.

Thirty minutes later, Steph re-emerged dressed in a muscle suit that completely hid her figure. She wore the standard Rangeman uniform of a tight black t-shirt and black cargos, and her hair was pinned under a hat. Up close she looked comical, but from a distance she could pass as a Merry Man. A short Merry Man, but shoe lifts could only do so much.

Everybody managed to keep a straight face, but Steph could tell the effort was costing them. With a grin, she said, "It's all right, guys. You can laugh. I know how silly I look."

Tank was the first one to break ranks. "Little Girl, you make a fine-looking woman, but you are one sissy looking man."

That did it. The dam broke, and the room was filled with laughter. Even Ranger had a grin on his face.

"Babe, Tank's right. It's too bad nobody has a camera."

Steph heard the clicking sound of a cell phone camera being used. Bobby was standing off to the side, taking her picture in profile. "Sorry, Bomber, but I couldn't pass it up. This one is definitely going up on the notice board in the break room."

"You just wait, Bobby Brown! I'll figure out a way to get even, and it won't be pretty."

Les was standing to Bobby's left. "If you're going to put something on the notice board, it might as well be worth looking at," he said as he pulled Steph into a dip and planted a loud, wet kiss on her lips.

Wolf whistles could be heard along with the sound of another picture being taken. After standing her back up, Les helped straighten her shirt and hat.

Steph decided she'd given the guys enough fodder for more 'Bombshell' stories. Turning towards the door, she tossed over her shoulder, "Shall we get this show on the road?"


	11. Chapter 11

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 11

Instead of taking all three vehicles back to Rangeman at the same time, Ranger and Tank decided to stagger their arrival so it attracted less attention. Stephanie, Ranger, Tank, and Les left in the first SUV. The other two SUV's would arrive thirty minutes apart and forty-five minutes after Stephanie was safely back in the building.

The tension in the air on the ride back to Trenton was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and Stephanie found it hard to sit still. Ranger kept shooting her dark glances in the rear view mirror, no doubt helped along by the arm Les kept around her shoulders. When Steph started to beat out a rhythm on the arm rest with her fingers, Les reached over and took his hand in hers. "Something bothering you, Beautiful?"

"I don't know, Les. My spidey sense is going off, but I'm not sure if it's because of the tension in the truck or something else. Something just feels off."

"Rangeman, would you please stop glaring at me and Steph so she can concentrate?" Steph elbowed him the ribs, but only succeeded in giving herself a sore elbow. Damn muscles.

Instead of responding, Ranger just turned his dark gaze on Les. Tank was shaking with suppressed laughter.

"Oh come on, Steph! That was funny. My cousin just can't stand to watch me cozy up to the new, improved you."

That did it. Stephanie started laughing and couldn't stop. Her laughter was contagious, and soon Tank was grinning at her. Even Ranger seemed to stop glaring at her, and she could have sworn she saw a ghost of a smile on his lips. Les smiled at her and kissed her cheek. Whispering in her ear, he said, "Feel better?"

Instead of answering him, Steph turned her head and kissed him.

The ride seemed to go by much faster after the mood was lighter. They were back in Trenton in no time, and as they got off the freeway, Steph spotted a McDonald's. She was suddenly starving. It felt like supper was days ago.

"Ranger, can we pull through McD's? I'm starving for a McRib."

"Babe."

"Oh lighten up. I can't survive on grass and twigs like you do. Please?" Steph knew he had a weakness for the 'p' word like she did.

"Only if you'll join me in the gym in the morning."

"Exercise Nazi! Fine. If I have to get up early to exercise, I want a chocolate shake and some fries too."

With a slight shake of his head, Ranger switched lanes so he could turn into the drive through. Ten minutes later they were digging into their sandwiches and fries. Tank and Lester had decided to join her, and Ranger even broke down and ordered a grilled chicken wrap. Maybe she was wearing him down, even if he still ordered something healthy. The fact that he was eating McDonald's at all was a small victory.

Steph was polishing off her last bite when they rolled up to the gate at Rangeman. While they were waiting for the gate to open, Tank and Les were scanning the street, looking for suspicious activity.

Just as they were rolling into the garage, a shot cracked the glass in the back window of the SUV.

Les shoved her down to the floor, covering her with his body, and Ranger gunned the truck so that it leapt forward into the safety of the underground garage. Tank had his side arm out and was turned around in his seat, looking for the source of the gun fire.

Once they were parked near the elevator doors, Les helped her off the floor, but wouldn't let her out of the truck. "Wait for back-up, Beautiful. We need to cover you until you can get on the elevator. We should be relatively safe in here, but I don't want to take a chance that someone can get a shot off."

Less than a minute later, the stairwell door banged open and Manny, Cal, and Zero charged through, guns drawn. They surrounded her along with Tank, Ranger, and Les as she got out of the SUV and ran in a crouch to the elevator doors being held by Binkie.

By the time the elevator doors opened on five, Steph had gone from shock to anger. She just knew they'd send her to a safe house now. Hopefully she could pick which safe house, and maybe who stayed with her.

Steph followed Les to the conference room. Ella was just leaving after dropping off a carafe of coffee.

Ranger wasted no time once they got settled into their seats. "Report," he barked at Cal.

"We think the shots came from a building west of here. I've got some guys out checking the roof of every building in that direction. The shooter is probably long gone, but with luck he'll have left some evidence."

Les spoke up next. "I think it's best to wait to discuss the findings and what our course of action should be until the entire team is back here. I sent a text out letting them know what happened and to scrap the staggered entrance since it's not necessary anymore."

Tank nodded his head in agreement. "Let's meet back here in an hour," he said, looking at Ranger for confirmation.

With a nod from Ranger, everyone filed out of the room. Steph made a beeline for the break room and climbed up on the counter so she could reach the top shelf in the cabinet. While she was feeling around in the back, searching for her secret stash of Tastykakes, Ranger came in. "What are you hunting for, Babe?"

"My emergency stash. Getting shot at justifies a little pick me up, and before you say anything, McDonald's doesn't count anymore. That was before the rear window shattered in the SUV."

Instead of responding, Ranger picked her up off the counter and put her back on her feet. Before she could protest, he reached behind the coffee in the far corner and brought out a box of Butterscotch Krimpets.

Steph didn't even try to hide her surprise. Grabbing the box out of his hand, she plopped down in a chair and ripped into a Krimpet. After she'd taken a bite, she looked up at Ranger and smiled. "Thank you."

Ranger didn't respond. He just watched her with his blank face firmly in place. His eyes dilated when she moaned as she worked her way through the cake. "Come to my office when you finish, Babe? I need to talk to you."

Once she was done, her mess cleaned up and a new hiding place found for her contraband, she knocked on Ranger's office door. "Enter."

Steph sat on the sofa and tucked her feet under her. "You wanted to see me, Ranger?"

"Yeah." He paused, looking uncomfortable. "I need to apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you when I left for Miami." He took a breath. Steph realized Ranger was nervous, and her insides did a flip. "We were getting too close, or at least I thought we were."

Steph just stared at him. She knew he was nervous, and she had no intention of making it easier for him.

"The last couple of months were dull without you around, Babe. I know I fucked up, and it looks like you're happy with whatever it is you've got with Santos, but I still want to be your friend, if you'll let me."

She gave him a hard look. "I don't know, Ranger. You made an ass of yourself. Why didn't you call me after Joe's little stunt?"

"I didn't know about it. I don't watch much TV, and I've been a little…intense over the last few weeks. None of my men in Miami were volunteering to tell me anything." His expression turned stormy. "And Tank didn't seem to think I needed to know."

"Don't get mad at Tank. He was just doing what he thought was best for me."

"I know, Babe." He was holding her hand and running his thumb over her knuckles. "What do you think? Can we still be friends?"

"Let me give it some thought, Ranger. I'm still pretty pissed at you, but if I decide to stay friends, you need to stop poaching. No pinning me to the wall behind the bonds' office, no stolen kisses."

"I understand, Babe. You're relationship, or whatever it is that you've got with Santos, seems more balanced than the one you had with Morelli."

Ranger gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead after a huge yawn took over her features. "Why don't you lie down and rest for a bit before we have to go back to the conference room? You've got about twenty minutes to kill."

Steph started to protest, but decided against it. Her eyelids felt like they weighed fifty pounds a piece. With her feet in Ranger's lap, she drifted off.

_Leave me some love! More reviews = quicker updates!_


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N - This one's a little short, but I found a good stopping point, and my evil little muse took a mini-vacation. Better some than none, right?_

All characters belong to J.E.

Chapter 12

Les walked in to Ranger's office to find Stephanie sprawled out on the couch. Ranger looked up from his computer screen when Les carefully eased her head up so he could slip under her. When her head was situated in his lap, he looked up at Ranger. "She must be exhausted. Did you two straighten everything out?"

"We did."

"And?"

"If Stephanie wants you to know, she'll tell you."

"I have no doubt about that. But I asked you, not her."

Ranger shot him a death glare. "You want to know, ask her."

Les fought the desire to ring his cousin's neck. Instead, he focused on the curly-haired brunette in his lap, running his fingers through her hair.

Ranger watched Les, expecting an explosion any second. "You gonna give me the 'stay away from her' speech?"

"If I thought I needed to do that, I wouldn't be here. I was there for her when you left to go to Miami, so I know what she's been through the last couple of months. I don't think there's any cause for jealousy anymore."

A look of regret flashed across Ranger's face before his blank mask slammed back down. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you what will happen to you if you hurt her."

Les gave him a small smile. "That's rich, coming from you. But no, it's not necessary." He looked down and saw a pair of blue eyes staring at him. "Hey, Beautiful. Did you have a nice nap?"

"Mmmhmmm. Are you two playing nice?"

Les smiled down at her. "No worries, we're being good. I can't kill him anyway. Tia would be very upset with me. She seems to like him, for some reason."

"Time for the meeting, Babe."

The three of them filed into the conference room, Ranger taking his spot at the front, Les and Stephanie finding seats on his left side.

Cal spoke up once they were settled. "We recovered two shell casings from a .50 caliber sniper rifle on the roof of an office building about a thousand yards from here. I dusted the area for prints, but you might want Hal to go over it again. He finds workable prints better than anybody else."

Hal nodded. "I'll go over there after we're done here."

"We also found the sniper's nest. He left a body imprint in the loose layer of dirt on the roof, so we were able to determine approximate height and weight. My best guess is around six feet, maybe a hundred and eighty pounds."

Ram spoke up. "It takes some skill to make a decent shot from a thousand yards. He's either got military or law enforcement training."

Ranger looked around the room as he spoke. "The fact that we haven't had any notes or letters left at any of the crime scenes so far makes this seems like a professional. Usually, demands or threats have been made by now."

"The bomb that was used on my car was wired to the starter, instead of being attached magnetically. Hal said that's old school, so it could be a mob hit. Maybe Connie can talk to her uncle to see if I've ruffled some feathers somehow, but I still don't think Terri is involved. It doesn't feel right."

"Could you call her in the morning, Babe? It never hurts to check out all possibilities." Stephanie nodded. "Good. We need to discuss which safe house to send you to. I know you don't want to go, but I'd feel better if you didn't have a target on your head. It'll be easier to protect you if you're hidden."

"I don't need to go to a safe house, Ranger. I'm perfectly safe here, and I can help find this guy."

"I'd feel better if you were hidden. I'll even let you pick which one you want to go to."

Steph let out a long-suffering sigh and glared at Ranger. "Only if you send me with a laptop so that I can help figure out who this is. I feel like I'm missing something that's right in front of my face. Maybe it'll help if I can stay updated on any information you guys find."

A hush fell over the entire room. They'd never seen her agree to protection and a safe house so easily. Even Les was giving her a funny look.

"Beautiful, not that I'm complaining, but what brought about this change of heart? Usually you fight tooth and nail."

"Working here full-time over the last few months has taught me some patience, and I figure it's about time I grow up and help take some responsibility for my safety."

Ranger seemed to recover from his shock the quickest. "We've got safe houses in Point Pleasant, New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. We don't have to have a decision right now, but sometime in the early morning we'll have to know to set things up. I'd like to get you out of here by tomorrow night."

Stephanie didn't have to give it much thought. "Point Pleasant sounds great. It's still early enough in the fall that it's not too cool for the beach."

"Tank, work up a rotation for guard duty. I'll talk to Ella and arrange for her to stock the kitchen. Do you have everything you need here or do you need to send someone over to your apartment, Steph?"

"I'll make a list since I'd probably get shot at if I went over there. Is it all right if Hector does it? I've got some, um, personal stuff I need." She didn't want Vince or Ram packing up her underwear. She didn't know who went over there the day her car blew up, but they made a point of packing all her thongs and none of her more comfortable bikini underwear. Hector wouldn't let his imagination take over.

Hector caught her eye from the back of the room and smiled at her. "Si, I go."

Steph smiled back, and blushed when Vince winked at her. Guess she figured out who did the packing last time.

When nobody had anything else to add, Ranger dismissed everyone. As she was walking out, Ranger caught her arm and pulled her closer to him. Leaning down so that she was the only one that could hear, he said, "Proud of you, Babe."

_C'mon, you know you want to...do I have to say please? Leave a review!_


	13. Chapter 13

All characters belong to Janet Evanovich. I only borrow them, and never for long enough to do any damage. Too damn bad for me…

Chapter 13

Steph was packed and ready to go by eight o'clock the next morning. Her escape took most of the morning, thanks to the circuitous route Ranger took to the safe house. If they were followed, it wasn't for lack of trying.

Her jaw dropped when she saw the house for the first time. "This is a safe house? It looks more like vacation paradise!" It wasn't overly large, but it looked airy and spacious. The clapboard siding was painted a light blue, and bright white storm shutters framed a wall of windows facing the ocean. There was a lookout deck on the roof and a patio with a six-foot high privacy fence around it. Steph was hoping for a pool on the other side of that fence.

Once they were inside, Les took her hand to show her the house while Ranger entered the code on the alarm system. The living room took up most of the first floor, along with a state of the art eat-in kitchen. Over-stuffed couches faced a fireplace and flat screen TV, and a small sitting area in the corner looked out towards the ocean.

Three large bedrooms competed for the second floor, each with their own bath. They were all roughly the same size, but only one had a soaking tub. Steph quickly claimed that suite, and threw her bag on the bed. Les smirked at her. "I thought you'd like this one best. You need any help unpacking?"

"I think I've got it covered. It shouldn't take me long. Which room is yours?" Stephanie smiled as she wrapped her arms around Lester's neck. "Or are you staying in here with me?"

"Who am I to deny a beautiful lady? If you want me in here, that's where I'll be."

Standing on her tip toes, Steph kissed him lightly on the lips. "So I can have anything I want?"

Les pulled her closer, lowering his head to nuzzle her neck. "Ask and you shall receive, Beautiful."

A light knock on the wall interrupted them. "Ella left some lunch for us if you're hungry, Babe."

Les let out an exasperated sigh and leaned his head on Steph's shoulder. He could feel her silent laughter. "We'll be down in a few, Ranger."

"He's going back to Rangeman tonight, so you can kiss me all you want to without having to worry about him."

"I'll do it any time I feel like it, whether he's here or not," Les said, bending down and capturing her lips in a kiss that curled her toes.

It took Steph a minute to find her voice once Les let her come up for air. "C'mon, I'm starving, and Ella has never let me down."

They made their way downstairs and found a spread laid out on the kitchen counter. Roast beef sandwiches, potato soup, salad (of course), and baked sweet potato chips made her mouth water.

Steph raised an eyebrow at Ranger, or at least tried to. "Ella kind of fell off the wagon, didn't she? I don't remember ever seeing anything that resembled potato chips at Rangeman."

Ranger looked slightly amused. "Don't get too excited. They're baked, and homemade, so there are no preservatives in them. I'm not as strict at the safe houses, but I still don't like empty calories."

"Quit trying to ruin my good time. If I think these are healthy, they won't taste as good."

Once they were finished and the kitchen was clean, Les took her outside. She'd guessed right. Surrounded by the privacy fence was a heated pool. Being on lock down was looking up considerably.

"You want to try it out, Beautiful? The weather is too good to pass up a swim. And you know you want to see me in my swim trunks."

"Let's give the food a little while to settle and then we'll give a try. What kind of swimsuit do you wear, Les? Board shorts or speedos?"

"Whichever you want, Steph, but if you choose my swimsuit I get to pick yours."

"Oh no…I don't think so. You'd pick out the skimpiest bikini I packed, and I'd have to parade around in front of Hal and Hector in next to nothing. I don't think Hector would care too much, but Hal might never be able to speak to me or look me in the eye again if he saw me that way."

Les' mind kicked into overdrive at the thought of her in something that revealing. "How skimpy are we talking?"

"If you're a good bodyguard, I might show it to you later tonight."

Les gave her a look that could melt the panties off of a nun. "I'll be on my best behavior."

Steph felt a shiver go down her spine. Lock down was definitely looking up.

Ranger left two hours later when Hal and Hector showed up, but not before making sure she knew how to use the safety and defense features around the house. It took almost an hour to go through how to get into the panic room, trigger the alarm if somebody managed to slip past her guards, and where all the guns were located. She was sure they could fight off an invasion if the need arose.

"You want to try out that pool now, Steph?" Les was itching to see her in a bikini, even if it wasn't the most risqué one she had packed.

"Absolutely! Let me go change, and I'll be down in a few.

Rifling through the swimsuits she had brought with her, she couldn't decide between a red two-piece with a halter top and shorts and a blue one piece with cut outs on the side. Deciding that the two-piece seemed more modest, even with more exposed skin, she quickly changed, grabbed a towel from the bathroom, and headed downstairs.

Les was already in the pool when she stepped through the sliding glass doors. She watched him slice through the water, the muscles in his back rippling. She was so caught up in watching Les that she didn't notice that Hector was sitting in one of the lounge chairs until he laughed.

"Good show, si?"

Realizing she'd been caught drooling, Steph just smiled at Hector as a light blush colored her cheeks. After dropping her towel on an empty chair, she backed up to get a running start and landed a perfect cannonball, soaking Hector with the splash. His laughter died, and with a look that clearly meant trouble for her, dove in head first. With a giggle, Steph started swimming furiously for the ladder on the other side of the pool. She had one foot on the first step when she felt something grab her ankle and pull her under. Wiggling free, she turned around to find Hector grinning at her.

When they surfaced for air, Les was stretched out on one of the pool floats with his eyes closed. Silently, Hector pointed at him and raised an eyebrow. Steph nodded back, and sunk back under the water, followed closely by Hector. They positioned themselves on one side of the float and came up at the same time, flipping Les into the water. He came back up a few seconds later, sputtering and swearing. "You just wait, Beautiful. Revenge is sweet."

"You seemed like you could use cooling off, Les. I was just trying to help."

Hector grinned at the two of them before going back to his spot in the lounge chair. "Estefania, I keep you safe. No worries about Les."

"Thank you, Hector, but I can manage him on my own."

Hal and Hector switched posts about an hour later so that Hal could enjoy the sun as well. Safe house rules kept them from being poolside at the same time. Despite her best efforts, Stephanie couldn't sneak up on Hal to dunk him like she had Les.

After her stomach voiced its complaint a couple of hours later, Les pulled her out of the pool. Hal turned out to be a master of the grill, so they dined on barbecued chicken, grilled corn, and baked potatoes. Hal turned pink the first time Steph moaned when she tried a bite of chicken, and grew progressively more flushed the more she voiced her approval of the meal. Even Hector squirmed in his seat a time or two. Les watched her with dark eyes, his gaze growing more intense as the meal progressed.

Clean-up was a breeze, and in no time Les and Steph were stretched out one couch while Hal took up most of the other, flipping through the channels on the TV. Hector sat at the kitchen island, pecking away on his laptop. Les finally found something everyone could agree on, and they settled in for the evening.

Steph quickly lost interest in the TV when Les began to run his hands up and down her back. While it looked innocent, it sent tingles up and down her spine. Every pass he made down her side made Steph grip Les' shirt harder. He finally settled his hand on her shoulder, and Steph could picture the smirk on his face when her body relaxed from the tension she'd been feeling when he was teasing her.

When a yawn escaped her at ten thirty, Steph decided it was time to turn in for the night. "Good night, guys. Who's coming in tomorrow?"

"Zero and Binkie will be here at 1400. I've got a late shift tomorrow, so I'll head back with Hal and Hector."

Steph's face fell slightly when she realized Les wasn't going to be there tomorrow night. "I won't be gone that long, Beautiful. I've got an early shift the day after that, so I'll be back by supper time."

She couldn't help but smile at Les' attempt to put a positive spin on things. "See you guys in the morning."

As soon as she shut her bedroom door, Steph stripped and filled up the tub. After adding some sinful smelling bath salts, she slipped in and let out a happy sigh. She soaked until her fingers and toes began to prune, and after draining the tub and drying off with some of the fluffiest towels she'd ever used, slipped into a robe she found hanging on the back of the door.

Les was waiting for her when she came out of the bathroom. "Was I a good bodyguard today, Beautiful?"

_I know it took longer to post, but with school back in full swing I have less free time. Reviews are a great motivator though! Leave me some love!  
_


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N - Sorry this chapter took so long! I'm a bad fan fiction author...but the muse and school don't like to co-exist. Updates will most likely be spotty while school is in, but I'll do my best to update more regularly. And all reviews are very much appreciated, even though it takes me a while to respond._

Chapter 14

Not mine, even though I tried begging…

"I'm not sure, Les. Did you play nice with the other bodyguards?"

"Yes mam! Do I get my reward?"

"Only if you say please."

Les looked like Christmas had come early. "Please!"

Instead of answering, Steph turned around and walked into the closet. Once she was behind the door, she pulled the robe off and tossed it out into the bedroom. She heard Lester groan and grinned to herself. After putting on her skimpiest bikini, she stepped out and did a slow spin.

Steph was certain that Les stopped breathing as he took in the tiny scraps of blue material just barely covering her ass and chest. "Beautiful, where did you get that?"

"A little shop at Point Pleasant last year. I was staying with a friend that had a private pool, so I took the opportunity to avoid tan lines."

Les' face took on a hungry look as his gaze swept up and down her body. He motioned for her to turn around again with a silent twirl of his finger. "I think you were right not wearing this in front of Hal. He'd never recover. And if he did, I'd have to kill him."

Stephanie just giggled. She knew when she packed the bikini that she'd get her money's worth out of it somehow. "I think I need to inspect it a little closer, make sure there are no defects in the material."

"Defects, huh? And how would you accomplish this?" Stephanie asked as she stepped closer to Les.

Steph watched as his eyes followed every movement she made, much like a cat would watch its prey. "Well, it would have to be taken off so I could check it over thoroughly."

She came to a stop directly in front of where Les was sitting on the bed. "And you would take this off personally? Or would I need to remove it myself, or maybe have Hal or Hector help me?"

Les' response was a low growl before he stood up abruptly and captured her lips in a bruising kiss. "The only person that'll help you out of this is me. I need to know if you want me to stay in here with you tonight, Steph. 'Cause if you don't, I need to leave now while I still have some control."

It seemed like an eternity passed as Steph stared into his eyes. "Stay with me, Les."

That was all he needed to hear to break the fragile hold on his control. Bending down, he picked her up and placed her in the middle of the bed, then followed her down and settled next to her side. With his hand resting on her stomach, he trailed kisses down the side of her face to her neck, stopping to suck the skin under her ear into his mouth. Sucking gently, he used his teeth to nip at her, and then ran his tongue over the spot to soothe the sting. He continued kissing down her neck, stopping at the juncture of her shoulder and neck to nip at her and soothing the sting with his tongue again.

Stephanie was quickly turning into a pile of goo under Les' talented tongue. Her hands fisted in his t-shirt, and every time he kissed her neck or stroked the skin of her stomach, she let out a little moan. Grabbing the back of his head, she pulled him back up to her lips and kissed him hungrily. Running her hands down his chest, Steph pulled his shirt out of his pants, and impatiently started to tug it over his head. She needed to feel his skin on hers.

As soon as his shirt was off, Les brought his lips back down to hers, tracing their fullness with his tongue. His hands drew designs on her stomach, and slowly started to make their way up to the hook front of her bikini top. With a flick of his wrist, her top was off, and Les pulled back slightly to look at her.

Steph's face flushed when she saw the appreciation in his gaze. Taking advantage of his pause, Steph pushed him until he lay down, and then straddled his waist. Bending forward, she placed little kisses on his lower abs, and worked her way up using her hands and tongue to trace the outline of his muscles. She smiled when he groaned low in his throat as she scraped her nail across his nipple. Les' appreciation was obvious from the feel of him pressed against her center. Her hands came to rest on his shoulders, and she leaned forward to kiss his throat.

With a low growl, Les flipped them over so that he was on top, resting between her legs. Sliding an arm underneath her, slightly bowing her back, he kissed the underside of one breast and slowly worked his way up to her nipple as his other hand teased her other nipple into a stiff peak. Using his tongue and teeth, he tormented her, switching from one breast to the other, drawing moan after moan from her.

"Please, Les, I need more."

"More what, Beautiful?"

Why did he seem to think she could put together a coherent thought? "Please! I need you."

"Not yet. Patience is a virtue."

Stephanie could feel him smile against her as he began to kiss his way down her stomach, circling her navel with his tongue. When he reached the top of her bikini bottoms, he ran his fingers under the edge, teasing the top of her curls before pulling the bottoms down her legs.

Working his way back up her long legs, Les kissed the top of her toes, her ankle, all the way up her calf to the inside of her knee. Switching legs, he repeated the process, and when he reached her knee again, he continued up her thighs, placing kisses and licks on the smooth creamy skin. He couldn't get enough of her. At her center, he blew gently over her heated skin, causing goose bumps to rise. Her breathing had picked up as he got closer to her center, but when his cool breath hit her, her breath hitched for a second.

Les traced the outer edges of her sex with his index finger and circled her clit before running his tongue along her slit, causing her hips to buck off the bed. Using one arm to hold her down, he flicked his tongue over her nub while he slid one finger inside her. Stephanie's hands fisted in his hair, trying to bring him closer and add more pressure. Les continued to use his tongue on her clit, licking and sucking, while he added another finger and began to pump them in and out. Steph was quietly chanting his name now, almost like a prayer, begging him to let her come. Curling his fingers in a come hither motion inside her, Les bit down gently on her clit, and smiled to himself when her orgasm hit.

Steph cried his name as her toes curled and her hands gripped his hair when little white dots danced in front of her eyes. Les slowly eased his fingers from her and laid his head on her abdomen while she came back down to Earth. As her eyes came back into focus, he worked his way back up until he claimed her lips in a searing kiss.

She could taste herself as their tongues fought for control. Her hands worked furiously on the button and zipper of his pants. Finally, she managed to free his straining erection from his jeans. When her hand closed around his shaft, a low moan rumbled deep his chest, and his hips bucked forward. With lightening speed, Les stood up and shucked his pants off, then rejoined her on the bed.

Stephanie reached out to stroke him as he crawled up her body. When Les grabbed a condom from the nightstand, she took it from him and rolled it on, taking her time and enjoying the feel of him in her hands. Once he was sheathed, Steph kissed her way up his abs and chest before finding his lips again.

Les deepened the kiss as he laid her back down on the bed. Positioning himself at her entrance, he looked in her eyes, wanting to make sure that she wanted this as bad as he did. With a smile, Steph pressed her hands into his lower back at the same time she thrust her hips upward, taking part of his hard length into her core.

As he felt her warmth envelop him, Les took control and thrust the rest of the way in. A low growl rose from his chest, and he had to fight the urge to take her hard and fast. His free hand fisted in the sheet, trying to give Steph time to adjust to his size. When she grabbed the hand that was fisted in the sheet and twined her fingers with his and pulled him down so she could kiss him, he began to move slowly, setting a steady rhythm.

Steph could feel a spring begin to tighten in her core, and with every thrust Les made, it would tighter and tighter. Needing more, she wrapped her legs around his waist and dug her heels into the firm muscles of his backside. "Please, Les. You're driving me insane!"

Steph could feel his smile against her neck as he picked up the pace, driving into her faster. His lips kissed the column of her throat as his hand trailed a path down her side, stopping to tease her nipple before continuing down her stomach. Reaching between their slick bodies, Les circled her clit before pinching the bundle between his fingers.

That was all it took to send Steph flying over the edge. The spring uncoiled, and the little white dots appeared behind her eyelids again, and she cried his name as she came.

When her inner muscles clenched around him, Les could feel his own orgasm approaching. Letting go of the iron control he'd exercised to this point, he thrust into her harder, once, twice, three times, and then he flew over the edge with her, his shout of "Stephanie!" muffled into her shoulder.

Steph wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping his weight resting on her, enjoying the feel of him. She reluctantly let him go when he started to withdraw, and once the condom was disposed of, Les stretched out beside her, pulling her closer. Spooning with her back to his front, they drifted off.

_Ok, so my first attempt at smut is out in the open. Reviews and opinions are appreciated!  
_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_Not mine, unfortunately._

_A/N – For the rest of this story, all Hector's Spanish will be in italics. I don't think it's worth the time to go through Google translate for every conversation he has. Easier for everybody.  
_

Steph woke up the next morning with a lazy smile on her face. As she stretched under the covers, her mind played back to the night before. Les had woken her up at two a.m. with light kisses to her neck and shoulders. She was instantly awake and focused on the path his lips were making over her skin. An hour later, they both fell back into an exhausted sleep, her head on his chest.

As she rolled over to the side of the bed, her hand fell on a folded sheet of paper on Les' pillow. With a smile on her face, she read the sloppy block print.

_Good morning, Beautiful. I'm downstairs when you wake up._

_Les_

Steph tucked the note in her purse on the way to the bathroom to take care of her morning routine. Once the rat's nest that her hair had turned into was tamed and she'd put on her basic three coats of mascara, she pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a comfortable lightweight sweater and headed down to the kitchen to find something for breakfast.

The smell of bacon assaulted her nose as she descended the stairs. She found Les manning the waffle iron while Hal was cooking bacon on the stove. Her mouth watered as her gaze wandered around the kitchen searching for the coffee pot.

"Where's the coffee?"

Les smiled at her. "I've got the beans ground and waiting for you in the French press on the counter, but I didn't want to make it before you got up. Fresh coffee is good coffee."

"The coffee is in what? What's a French press?"

"It's a –"

"Hang on. Don't try explaining anything technical to me before I've had some caffeine. First coffee, then you can explain why a normal coffee pot isn't good enough."

"Give me five minutes, and I'll have some made for you," Les said over Hal's laughter.

True to his word, five minutes later Les was pouring her a cup of coffee out of a contraption she'd never seen before. After doctoring it with cream and sugar, she took her first sip and her eyes widened.

"This is really good, Les! It still seems like a lot of trouble to go to for coffee before my brain has turned on in the morning."

"Stick with me, Beautiful, and I'll fix you that kind of coffee every morning."

'As if I needed another reason after all the Les-induced orgasms last night,' Steph thought to herself. Or so she thought.

Lester just grinned at her, and Hal turned so red he resembled a tomato.

"Shit….I said that out loud?"

"Si. But I don't think Les mind so much," Hector said as he came around the corner. "_How much longer is breakfast?_"

"Almost done. Go ahead and grab the syrup and fruit from the fridge," Les replied as he flipped the last waffle out of the waffle iron.

They all gathered around the breakfast bar and dug in. All talking ceased while they stuffed themselves.

Just as they were finishing cleaning up the kitchen, they all received text messages notifying them of a conference call in ten minutes. Steph followed Les into a small office outfitted with a desktop computer and all-in-one printer. Hector dialed the home office while Les leaned against the desk and pulled Steph against him and Hal sat in the guest chair off to the side.

"We've got the results back from the blood we found on the knife stuck in the bear's head," Ranger's voice rang out loud and clear. "We didn't get a hit in any criminal database, so that rules out any of the Grizzoli family's better known hit men. We did confirm that the DNA is from a woman."

"Well, that kind messes up the theory that it's a man," Hal said quietly.

"I'm not so sure. Maybe the bear was left by a woman, possibly one of Joe's girlfriends. The shooter was probably a man, going from the evidence we found on the roof. Maybe it's a team?" Steph seemed to be talking to herself more than everybody else.

"You might be on to something, Babe. Hal didn't turn up any other evidence on the roof when he checked behind Cal, and the PD got no prints off the bomb fragments from Pino's or the mall. So whoever is leaving bombs and shooting at you seems to be a professional, but whoever left the bear seems acts like an amateur, and more impulsive."

"Something is itching at the back of my brain. There's something I'm missing. Can you send all the reports of the evidence we've gathered so far with the next shift coming to the safe house? Maybe if I see it all together it will jog my memory."

"Sure thing, Babe. The next shift will be there at 1400 hours." She heard the phone line go dead, and shook her head. He'd never learn phone manners.

_Sorry this chapter is so short, but better a short chapter than none at all, right? I'm also looking for a beta, so if anyone's interested, send me a PM._

_Reviews are greatly appreciated!_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_**A/N: Sorry it's taken so long for an update! The muse does not like to share brain space with school. Thankfully, she should have all my attention for a while since I'm officially a graduate! *Big grin* Enjoy!**_

_All characters belong to J.E., even though I treat Les nicer than she does._

Stephanie stared at the stack of reports Ranger had sent in with Zero and Binkie. She never knew one of her stalker incidents generated this much paper. As she glanced through one she was amazed at the level of detail. Everything was included, even the weather at the time of the incident. She was looking at the diagram of the scene from the bomb at the mall when it finally hit her what she was missing. Scanning the report, she didn't find a description of the woman who bumped into her when she was leaving Macy's. In all the confusion Steph had forgotten to tell Tank about it.

"I've got it!" Steph yelled. Two pairs of boots could be heard double-timing it down the hall.

"Got what, Bomber?" Binkie was the first through the door.

"I know what was bothering me about all this. I forgot to tell Tank about this klutz that bumped into me coming out of the mall. I'd bet Rex that she put the bomb in my bag."

Zero raised an eyebrow at her and dialed Tank's number. "Yo," Tank's voice boomed out over the speaker.

"Hey Big Guy. I just realized what was bothering me this morning. In all the confusion after the bombing at the mall I forgot to tell you about this woman who bumped into me coming out of Macy's."

"It's good that you thought of it now, Little Girl. Tell me what you remember."

"She literally almost knocked my bag out of my hands when she ran into me as we were leaving. Nothing about her really stood out to me. I do remember thinking her glasses looked way too big for her face."

"So you think she put the bomb in your bag? Do you remember any other details? What was she wearing? How tall was she?"

Steph closed her eyes as she was talking, running through the memory in her head. "I had to look down at her slightly to see those awful glasses, so she was shorter than me. Maybe 5'6"? And her hair was a dull brown. I don't remember much since it was kind of crowded and she apologized for running into me."

Zero spoke up. "Maybe we can find some security camera footage of her? We know where she ran into Steph and the time frame, so maybe we'll get lucky."

"I'll get Hector to tap into the mall's security system. That should be a walk in the park for him. I'll keep you posted." With that, Tank hung up.

"One day, I'm going to have a class for phone manners and blackmail all you guys to come," Steph said while shooting the phone a dirty look. "I still need to look through these other reports if you guys have something else to do around here besides keep me company."

"We'll be in the living room if you need us Bomber," Binkie replied.

Stephanie began to notice a pattern as she browsed the reports. The two bombs were a more professional approach at killing her. The murdered bear and sniper attack seemed to have a more dramatic feel to them. Somehow she'd managed to pick up two psychos this time instead of just one.

Steph decided to text Ranger to arrange a conference call to reveal her latest epiphany. _Just got through reading the reports and need to discuss something I figured out. Conference call?_

It only took a few seconds for a reply to come back. _1700._

He's efficient with words even when he doesn't speak them, Steph grumbled to herself.

With only a few minutes to kill until the call she walked into the living room to tell Binkie and Zero and found them playing Mario on Wii.

"What, no guns and ammo games?" Steph teased.

"Nah. I already killed Zero a thousand times on Modern Warfare, and my niece got me started on Mario." Binkie ducked as a throw pillow flew at his head.

"You only won the last time because I was so tired from being out all weekend with Candy. It's not every day you get to spend the weekend with a stripper that can bend herself into a pretzel."

"TMI, Zero!" Steph decided to cut that conversation off before it could get started. "We've got a conference call in ten minutes so I can tell the rest of the core team about my ideas from reading the reports on my latest psycho run-ins."

Once everyone was dialed in, Steph started reviewing what she had come up with. "When I was reviewing all the reports it finally hit me - there are two different attackers. The bear and the sniper attacks were both more personal. The bombings were done by someone detached enough that they were just doing their job. "

"That's an important skill for a sniper too, Bomber."

"No doubt, Ram. But whoever shot at me got to see it happen in real-time. The bomber probably wasn't even in the vicinity when they went off. We know it was a female that dropped the bomb in my shopping bag at the mall, and the blood left on the knife was female too. Somehow I've managed to piss off two women, and I'm willing to bet they're both professionals."

"A professional wouldn't have left any evidence on the knife or on the rooftop, Babe. Not to mention the imprint left suggested the height and build of a man."

"There are tall women in this world, Ranger," Tank's voice boomed out.

"I think whoever left the dead bear is a little more unhinged than the one trying to blow me up. It only took two days after _Katie_ aired for it to show up on my doorstep, not to mention it just screams 'I'm a lunatic!' The first bomb was three days after the show. That took a little more planning. And thank you, Tank. It's nice to know somebody is following my train of thought."

There was a heavy silence on the other end of the phone. "I didn't mean to sound like I doubted you, Babe. I'm just feeling out this theory."

"It's fine, Ranger. I'm just a little edgy." After taking a deep breath, Steph pushed on. "Cal, your report on the sniper said that they don't usually leave the empty casings on the roof. To me, that just seems to say that they don't have it all together to act like they normally would if this was any other job since Ram said it took skill to hit a target that far away. I think we need to focus on women that were dating Joe for the last couple of months. That narrows it down to around half of Trenton and Newark."

"Did you ever get around to calling Connie to see if she could shake the Family tree for any info, Beautiful?"

"Shit! I forgot. I'll call her when I get off the phone with you guys."

"Let's all get in touch with our contacts and see what we can find out. We'll reconvene in the morning at 0800. That'll give Hector enough time to check the footage from the mall too. Oh, and Babe…..good job."

This time when Steph heard the dial tone without a good-bye she smiled.

_**C'mon people...reviews are currency for ff writers. Show your appreciate!**_

_**I'm reposting this chapter because I was too hare-brained a few minutes ago to remember to thank everyone for the reviews from the last chapter, and an extra big thank you to xxTartloverxx for giving me the gentle shove I needed to start writing again.**_


End file.
